Partners for Life
by Zephyrclaws
Summary: Shortly before the Mizuki Incident, Naruto meets someone who will change his life radically. With Renamon as his partner, he sets off into the world of shinobi, fearlessly meeting new friends and digimon on the way. Naru/Rena, Saku/Gabu, Sasu/FemAgu.
1. They Meet

Partners For Life

Chapter 1: They Meet

Sorry for the delay, guys. Shortly after I posted that note, I got sick - and let me tell ya, constant diarrhea is about seven different kinds of not-fun.

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Iruka sighed. "Alright Naruto, it's your turn. Show us your Transformation."

Naruto grinned, and held a Ram seal. "Transform!"

When the smoke cleared, his skin was much paler, and his hair, now black, spiked out in what he thought looked suspiciously like a duck's ass. The real Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Well, they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery..."

Naruto turned around, let out a decidedly un-Sasuke-ish cackle... and mooned the rest of the class. Before anyone could react, his pants were up, and he was out the window. Half of the kunoichi in the class were unconscious under their desks, and the other half were edging towards the window, murder in their eyes.

Iruka facepalmed. "Sometimes, I don't know why I even bother to show up in the mornings..."

Sasuke glowered. _They aren't THAT small..._

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Naruto grinned. _Hehehe, I bet they never saw THAT one coming. _Still laughing quietly to himself, he ducked into a small alley, diving into a trashcan that he'd prepared for this purpose. It actually had two lids: One was an ordinary trash-can lid, and the other was to keep the trash that people threw in out of his hiding-place. He'd excavated a bit underneath the can, so as to provide himself with shelter when Iruka or any of the other teachers were looking for him - They knew where he lived, after all. It wasn't much, but it at least gave him enough room to curl up and nap for a bit until his pursuers gave up.

This time, however, he was not alone. As he carefully replaced the second lid, he noticed a small, yellow fox, curled up on the floor. It appeared to be asleep. Gently, he nudged it awake with his foot. "Hey there, shorty. What are you doing in here?" He frowned. It said something that a disguise good enough to fool most chunin had been seen through by a common fox. Except, now that he looked at it, it wasn't exactly common. For one thing, it was bright yellow, and for another, it was less of a fox, and more of a... blob.

It yawned. "Looking for you, of course."

Naruto twitched. "A fox... That talks. What the hell?"

The fox scowled at him. "What, you've never seen a digimon before?"

"...A what, now?"

She sighed in exasperation. "Look, I'm gonna make it simple. I'm a digimon, and you're my tamer."

The orange-clad prankster frowned. "What the heck is a tamer?"

Viximon sighed. "A tamer is a human who bonds with a digimon, becoming their protector in exchange for the spiritual energy that they need to Digivolve."

"...Huh?"

She ground her teeth. "Honestly, don't you know anything? I'd've thought that you would at least know what Digimon are."

Naruto shook his head. "Nope, not a clue."

"Alright then, I'll start at the beginning. A digimon is a creature made of data, bits of information that are usually stored inside computers. When a digimon gains enough spiritual energy, either by absorbing the data of other digimon, or by drawing it from their Tamer, they can sometimes change into a more powerful form. This is called Digivolution. Any questions?"

"...What's a computer?"

Viximon groaned. "Seriously? You're joking, right?"

"Ehm... No?"

She rolled her eyes. "Nevermind, then. Will you be my partner, or not?"

Naruto scratched his head, puzzled. "What exactly does that mean?"

"Well, I'd fight for you, of course. It is a digimon's sacred duty to ensure that their tamer is not harmed."

He grinned confidently. "I can take care of myself. I'm gonna be a ninja soon, y'know."

She shook her head. "I have no idea what a 'ninja' is, but if you think that a guy like you could take on a champion, or hell, even a rookie, you're sadly mistaken. Digimon at the higher levels can unleash insane amounts of destruction."

The orange menace raised an eyebrow. "How much is 'insane'?"

Viximon grinned, knowing she'd won. "A mega-level digimon could probably wipe out this entire village with one shot."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Whoa. And if I help you, you could become one of those?"

She shrugged. "Maybe. If you get into fights a lot, then probably."

Naruto held out his hand. "You got yourself a deal!"

Viximon placed her paw in his hand, and she began to glow. Seemingly from nowhere, a computerized voice said "Digivolution, activated." She began to grow, pressing Naruto against the wall until he could barely breathe. "Viximon, digivolve to... Renamon!"

When the light faded, all he could see was black, as he felt something furry press against his face. Furry, and... Soft. He could feel her blush, as Renamon said "Ehehe... Umm, maybe I should wait till we get outside." With that, she glowed again, and became a small fox once more. From the dim light that came from a few of the camping seals he'd bought at the Academy store, he could see that her entire face was blushing bright pink.

Red as a tomato, Naruto lifted the twin lids, leaping out of the trashcan and into the alleyway. Viximon followed close behind him.

She closed her eyes, and glowed once more. This time, Naruto was able to see what was actually happening; Viximon's skin dissolved, revealing a latticework of green wires. "Viximon, digivolve to..." As he watched, the wires extended, stretching into a vaguely humanoid shape. A long, bushy tail extended behind her, and fur began to cover her frame once more. As it spread across her arms, revealing purple arm-warmers, she shouted "Renamon!"

She smiled at Naruto's awestruck expression, and then looked up, as two small orbs of light drifted down before her tamer, solidifying into a digivice and a crest tag, bearing a shield-like symbol. Naruto slipped the tag around his neck, and glanced at the digivice appraisingly. "What's this?"

Renamon thought for a moment. "I think that's a D-power - It's a device that allows a tamer to strengthen their digimon. That's what allowed me to digivolve. I've never actually seen one before..."

Naruto pocketed the D-power, and smiled. "Something tells me - "

"NARUTOOOOOO!"

The young ninja-in-trainined groaned. "Crap, Iruka-sensei's on to us. Run!"

As he dashed off, Renamon caught up to him. "I have a better idea." With that, she scooped him up, and they both vanished.

"Whoa! How'd you do that?"

She shrugged. "It's just something that Renamon can do."

Naruto frowned. "That's a weird way to talk about yourself. I thought your name was Viximon, anyway?"

Renamon shook her head. "Renamon and Viximon are the names of the In-Training and Rookie levels of my species, respectively."

"In-training?"

Before she could say anything else, though, Iruka rounded the corner, and she flattened the two of them against the wall.

Iruka frowned. "I could've sworn I heard him around here somewhere..." His eyes narrowed. He knew that Naruto was nearby - that was definitely his wayward student's voice. The question was, where? The scarred chunin sighed. "I swear, Naruto, you're gonna give me grey hair before I'm thirty. Fine! I give up." His shoulders slumping, he walked off.

Naruto grinned, and made to dash away from the wall, but Renamon held him back. "Are you sure it isn't a trick?"

"Nahh, Iruka-sensei couldn't catch me in a million years." He pushed away from Renamon, becoming instantly visible, and dashed off, rounding the corner opposite of the one Iruka had turned... And straight into Iruka himself.

The older man smirked. "Caught ya." Before he could react, the academy instructor had his student over his shoulder, arms and legs expertly pinned.

"Hey, you said you gave up! That's cheating!"

Iruka twitched. "Ninja don't play fair, Naruto. Surely, you know that by now?"

Naruto grumbled all the way back to the academy, and Renamon followed behind, curious despite herself.

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What she saw at the academy intrigued her. This was no ordinary school, like she'd heard about humans going to; This was more like boot camp, albeit tailored to younger minds. The first things she noticed were the students in an attached training ground, practicing with throwing stars. Each student had a look of intense concentration on his or her face, as if their lives depended on the perfection of their art. _Who knows... Maybe it does? _In her musings, she'd nearly lost Iruka, and she scrambled to keep up as he leapt through a window, and into the building.

"...and that's why trying to skip out will get you nowhere. Honestly, Naruto, what were you thinking? The exams are in a couple of weeks - you have no time to be goofing around like this! Don't you _want_ to be a ninja?"

Naruto scowled, doing his best to look undaunted, despite the fact that he was partially mummified in rope. "Of course I do!"

Iruka twitched. "Then why...!"

The young ninja-in-training looked down to the floor, and muttered something that Iruka couldn't hear, but sounded to Renamon like, "Why do you care, anyway...?"

His teacher frowned. "What'd you say?"

Naruto glared up at him. "I don't need this stuff to become Hokage! I can do it on my own, believe it!"

Iruka twitched. "Naruto... Do you realize how little sense you're making? These are things you need to know to become a ninja at all, let alone Hokage. What are you gonna do if you fail the final exam _again_?"

The orange-clad academy student flinched; It was clear to Renamon that Iruka had struck a nerve. "I'm gonna ace the exam this time! Believe it!"

The instructor pinched the bridge of his nose, and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Damn kids and their catchphrases..." With a sigh, he untied his wayward student. "Back to your seat, Naruto. We have some reviewing to do."

Over the next hour, Renamon learned much about her partner's calling. She learned that ninja were warriors who used an internal source of energy that they called 'chakra', which sounded rather similar to the spiritual energy that Digimon drew on to fuel their attacks and transformations. She also learned that Naruto was considered to be the dead-last in his class, though this seemed to be more from lack of effort than anything else. Throughout the lesson, there were several mentions of the title 'Hokage', though she was still unclear as to exactly what it meant. Finally, the lesson ended, and though she lost her partner in the rush of students leaving the academy, she soon found him again, sitting on a small swing in front of the main entrance. He looked rather depressed. Allowing herself to reappear, she sat on the branch that the swing was hung from, and poked her partner with a furry foot. "Moping?"

Naruto 'hmph'ed. "No."

She dug her back claws into the bark, and swung down hang in front of him, her tail providing balance. "Oh, really?"

He sighed. "It's that damn test... This will be my third time taking it. I do just fine, until we get to the Clone Jutsu. Then, I screw up."

Renamon frowned, and flipped off of the branch, landing on her feet in front of her partner. "Why aren't you practicing it now, then? It seems to me that if you had only one obstacle left keeping you from your goal, you should do everything in your power to remove that obstacle."

Naruto scowled. "It's not that easy. I've been working on this damn jutsu for three years, and I still can't get it right. The worst part is that I can't even figure out where it's going wrong."

She raised an eyebrow. "Ask your teacher to help? That is his job, isn't it?"

Her partner shook his head. "The teachers don't care. They never do."

Renamon thought for a moment. "Naruto... If Iruka doesn't care, why did he leave the rest of the class without a teacher, just to hunt you down? It sounds to me like he cares quite a bit."

"Hmm..."

The yellow vixen shrugged. "Just think about it, is all I'm saying."

Naruto leaned against the swing, closing his eyes wearily. Her eyes softening, Renamon wrapped him in a hug. At first, he stiffened, but he eventually relaxed, leaning into her furry embrace.

As she let him go, Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Thanks. I needed that."

She gave him a small smile. "Of course. That's what partners do."

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Sasuke sighed, as he opened the door to his apartment. _Damn retard... Now he's got the fangirls whipped up into a frenzy again_. As he set his key on the ring by the door, a thought occurred to him, which caused him to smirk. _Maybe I could encourage them to go chase __**him**__ for a change, in revenge. _For a moment, he stood there, as he contemplated the pros and cons of siccing his rabid fangirls on the class clown. Finally, he shook his head. _Nahh. They'd never catch him, anyway. Say what you might about his intelligence, but the idiot knows how to run_. As he set his pack down, and padded into the living room, he noticed that something seemed... Off. Closing his eyes, he concentrated, and discovered a faint source of chakra emanating from his living room. Drawing a kunai from his pouch, he slipped down the short hallway, around the corner, and rolled against the back of the couch. Lifting his eyes cautiously above it, he scanned the living room. Nothing. Frowning suspiciously, Sasuke peered down onto the couch...

"Hey there!"

"AAAAAUGHH!"

In an instant, Sasuke was back in the hallway, back against the wall, and heart pounding. _What was that __**thing**__? _Slowly, he looked around the corner, to find a pinkish blob sitting on top of the couch, frowning.

"Oh, great. My partner is a wimp." Rolling its eyes, it bounced down off of the couch, and came to rest at Sasuke's feet.

The black-haired boy twitched. "Partner? I don't even know _what_ you are, much less who you are."

"I'm Koromon, a Digimon. Next?"

Sasuke frowned. "A what? I've never heard of digimon. More importantly, _what are you doing in my apartment_?"

Koromon. "Geez, so touchy. Like I said, you're my partner. I gotta say, I'm not impressed."

"Get lost."

The pink digimon glared at Sasuke. "Nope. Like it or not, you're my partner."

"I'm warning you, fuzzwad. If I have to say it again, I'm throwing you out."

Koromon narrowed its eyes. "Bring it."

Without warning, Sasuke dived at Koromon, only to grasp empty air.

The pink digimon sighed, as she bounced on Sasuke's head. "Wimpy _and_ slow. I really lucked out, didn't I?"

With a wordless growl, Sasuke flipped himself over, using his head to mash Koromon into the floor. Momentarily stunned, the pinkish blob was unable to keep Sasuke from grabbing it a second time. The dark-haired Academy student smirked. "Gotcha."

Koromon grinned, and blew a cloud of mildly explosive bubbles into Sasuke's face, causing him to drop her as he tried to clear his eyes. "Y'know, this would be a lot easier if you would just give up and accept me as your partner. I'm not gonna stop until you do."

Sasuke growled. "No way am I gonna lose to a little pink fuzzball!"

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Sasuke panted as he lay on his back, Koromon sitting triumphantly on his chest. "Fine... We'll call it a draw."

"What are you, the Black Knight?"

The dark-haired boy raised an eyebrow, too tired to do much else. "Wha?"

Koromon giggled. "Nevermind. So, do you accept me as your partner yet?"

Sasuke sighed. "What, exactly, would that mean?"

"Well, basically, Digimon like me can draw on the spiritual energy of our partner to change into stronger forms - It's called Digivolution. You supply the spiritual energy, I supply the beatdown."

"So, you're like a summon?"

Having hung out around the Academy before she'd figured out how to get into Sasuke's apartment, Koromon nodded. "Not quite, but close."

"...Fine. I have to sign some sort of contract, right?"

Koromon tried to shake her head, but as she had no separate head, ended up shaking her entire body instead. "Nope. Just hold on to one of my ears, and say you accept me as your partner."

Gently, Sasuke took hold of one of Koromon's ears. "I hereby accept you as my partner."

For a moment, nothing happened, and Sasuke began to wonder if he'd messed up something. Then, Koromon began to glow. As he watched, her skin peeled off, revealing what looked to be green wires underneath. "Koromon, digivolve to..."

As he watched, she grew rapidly, legs sprouting from underneath her to support her new weight. Arms grew out of her torso, which then separated itself into a chest and head, supported by a relatively thin neck. Claws formed on the end of her limbs, and a tail grew out of her back. Orange skin began to cover her legs, as her jaw extended, and she shouted, "Agumon!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "From a blob, to a lizard? Interesting."

Agumon crossed her arms. "For your information, most digimon's in-training forms look blobbish. It's because they have yet to define their evolutionary tree. Once a digimon becomes a Rookie, however, their path is pretty much set."

"...Evolutionary tree?" Sasuke frowned, confused.

Agumon nodded. "Each digimon species has a path of evolution, or 'Digivolution Tree' that determines what they become when they digivolve. Koromon is my in-training form, Agumon is my rookie form, and I've never become one before, but I know that Greymon is my champion form."

The youngest Uchiha sat up, taking a moment to digest this. "How far does this 'Digivolution Tree' go?"

"After champion comes ultimate, then mega. So far as I know, that's the highest level any digimon can go to."

Sasuke opened his mouth to ask a question, but was interrupted as a ball of white light formed above his head.

Agumon crossed her arms. "Well, it's about damn time... I was starting to think they'd never get here."

Slowly, the light separated itself into two separate objects, a crest tag and a digivice. Sasuke slipped the tag around his neck, and eyed the digivice speculatively. "And this is?"

"A D-Power. It's what lets you transfer your spiritual energy to me, to make me digivolve. I think it can do other stuff too, but I've never actually seen one before, so I can't be sure."

"I... See." He turned the strange device around, examining it. He noted a channel running along one side, but dismissed it as unimportant. He shrugged. "Very well, then. Wait here."

As he padded towards the bathroom, Agumon frowned. "Where are you going? You're just gonna walk off after that?"

He turned around, and sighed. "I'm going to take a shower. I've spent all day training, and in case you haven't noticed, I stink. Wait here."

She blinked. "Oh." With a small shrug, she plopped herself down on the couch, using the remote to look for something good to watch.

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Half an hour later...

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Sasuke raised an eyebrow as he walked back into the living room, sleep robe wrapped securely around his body. "Godzilla?"

Agumon shrugged. "I find the carnage inspiring. Ohmigod, he just _ate,_ like, three people at once! Godzilla-sama, you're my hero!"

The young academy student twitched. "I'm... Gonna go to bed. Turn off the TV when you're done."

She paused the movie, and craned her neck over the back of the couch to give him a curious glance. "Where am I supposed to sleep? Not on the floor, I hope."

Sasuke shrugged. "The couch folds out into a bed. Spare blankets are in the closet by the bathroom." He pointed in that general direction, and Agumon nodded.

"Good night... Partner."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just keep it down."

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Sasuke groaned and stretched, as he slowly rose into the world of consciousness. _That was one helluva dream. Pink blob, giant lizard, godzilla fanatic... _He shuddered. _Naruto must've found a way to slip me some kind of drug. Yeah, that's gotta be - _His eyes widened, as he felt the thin cord around his neck. Looking at the small plate that hung on it, he sighed. _Okay, so it wasn't a dream. Which means... _He closed his eyes for a moment, sending a trickle of chakra to his ears to temporarily enhance his hearing. Sure enough, he heard light snores coming from the living room.

Now fully dressed, he padded towards the living room. Agumon lay sprawled on the couch-bed, and by all appearances she seemed to be having a nightmare.

"N-no... Don't go... Don't -"

Frowning, Sasuke poked her gently in the arm, and only his ninja reflexes saved him from being burned, as she instinctively spat out a Pepper Breath. Rubbing her eyes sleepily, she glanced at the burn mark on the wall, and then at Sasuke. "Ehehe... Umm, oops?"

Sasuke sighed. "It's a good thing the walls are made of brick. What was that?"

"I thought you were... Someone else, for a moment."

Her partner raised an eyebrow. "Someone you don't like?"

Agumon's eyes narrowed, as she remembered a particularly unpleasant memory. "Puppetmon." She spat out the name, like it was an infectious disease. At Sasuke's inquisitive look, she sighed. "Puppetmon was one of the four Dark Masters, the evil digimon who took over our world."

"Your world?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I forgot to mention that part. I don't know exactly how it is that we got here - I don't even know how many digimon made the journey, or how many of those survived." She pulled her knees up to her chest, and rested her head on them.

"Friends?"

"Yeah."

Sasuke sighed. "Here, hop up."

Agumon slid off the bed, and Sasuke folded it up quickly, sitting down on the refolded couch. Agumon sat beside him, and sighed.

"No one knows where they came from, but one day the Dark Masters appeared in the center of the Digital World, and proclaimed themselves its rulers. They destroyed any town that harbored rebels... Including primary village."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Primary village?"

She nodded. "When a digimon dies, one of two things happens: Either the digimon that killed them absorbs their data, or it floats away, and reforms into a digi-egg. Primary Village is where they reform - it's the hatching grounds for all newborn digimon."

The genin-to-be frowned. "That sounds like something _he _would do. So, these Dark Masters are the ones responsible for you being here?"

"Indirectly, yes. I didn't see any of it firsthand, but apparently a group of humans calling themselves the 'Digidestined' took on the Dark Masters, and won. The digital world was back to the way it should've been... For about five seconds. Then, something even more horrible woke up."

"There's always a bigger fish..."

Agumon sighed. "Something like that, yeah. Whatever it was, it was stronger than all four of the Masters combined. It started tearing up the Digital World like it was made of paper, and it sent huge chunks spiralling of into the void. This, I guess... Well, this is the void we spiralled off into. I'm not sure that all of the places that were torn off ended up here, though - I think it was just the island I was on, Angel Island." She shook her head. "Ironically enough, it was the one place in the Digital world free of the Masters' grip. Even if they were to team up, which they never do, I doubt that they could take on the Three Angels and win. The only thing that stopped the Angels from defeating the Masters themselves was the knowledge of what would happen to the island without their protection."

"If Angel Island was safe from the Masters, how come...?"

Her eyes darkened, and she stared at her claws, refusing to meet his gaze. "I didn't always live on the island. I used to live in the forest, which was part of Puppetmon's domain. My best friend, Biyomon, was taken by that sick bastard... She was a bloody mess by the time he was done with her. I watched her dissolve into data, in my arms..." She shut her eyes tightly, and a few tears leaked out.

Sasuke hesitated, at a loss for words. Give him a good, clean fight any day - he wasn't cut out to deal with emotional females, even if she was a lizard. Finally, he patted her head awkwardly. As he looked around the room, looking for anything, anything to take her mind off of her trauma, he noticed a clock. "Oh, shi- I'm gonna be late!"

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Iruka sniffed, as Sasuke walked into the classroom, five minutes late and smelling faintly of sulphur. "Umm, Sasuke? Your hair's on fire."

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Sakura huffed, as she sat heavily on a park bench. _Damn you, Naruto! I swear, not a day goes by that he isn't doing something to piss off Sasuke. I mean, come on! What does a loser like that think he's doing, anyway? He'll always be dead-last, if he keeps this up._

A second voice spoke within her mind. **But then he'll fail, and there'll be one less obstacle between us and Sasuke! Cha!**

She giggled at the thought, turning bright pink. _Well, yeah. Sasuke... _She fought to contain a squeal. Shaking her head violently, she began to head back towards the Academy. _Iruka-sensei's probably gonna be mad that I left class to chase Naruto - but honestly, somebody needs to beat some sense into that idiot! Oh, well. Class was almost over anyway - I should probably head home._

With that thought in mind, she stood, dusting off her dress. As she ambled slowly down the street, she took in the sights of the Hidden Leaf's market. "That's right, today is market day, isn't it?" People crowded around the various stalls, each hunting for a special bargain. Just about every type of commodity was sold here, from fresh fruit, to manga, to hand-carved wooden jewelry. Sakura smiled brightly as she saw a merchant she recognized. Briefly, she caught his eye, and he waved as she passed by. Pushing through the crowd, she left the main thoroughfare, slipping into a small side-street._ It's a bit out of the way, but with all of the traffic on Market Street, it'll probably be quicker... _Musing idly to herself, she didn't notice when a shadowy figure detached itself from the wall behind her, and she jumped as a knife pricked the back of her neck.

"Hey there, girlie. How about you come with me, quiet like."

Sakura rolled her eyes. Thinking fast, she substituted with a nearby trashcan, appearing behind the thug as he flailed about in surprise. With a swift kick to the back of his leg, she had him on his knees, and with another kick to the head, she knocked him out. "CHA!"

Feeling immensely pleased with herself, she turned back towards her home, almost tripping on a fuzzy orange blob. "What now?"

The thing rotated, and soulful brown eyes stared back at her.

"Aww, so cute!" She picked it up and cradled it close to her chest, careful to avoid the sharp horn sticking out of its forehead. "I wonder what you are, little guy? Don't think I've ever seen anything quite like you."

It grinned. "I'm Tsunomon, a digimon!"

She dropped the Tsunomon as quickly as she could. "Did you just... Talk?"

He winced. "That hurt..."

Sakura frowned. "Are you a summons, or something? You should probably get back to your partner - this part of town isn't all that safe, even for a cute little fuzzwad like you."

"But you're my partner."

"Wait, what? I never signed a contract..."

Tsunomon laughed. "Contract? There's no contract. Well, not a written one anyway."

As Sakura was about to answer, the thug behind her gave a low groan. She kicked him in the head again, and he was still. "How about we talk somewhere else?" She grinned sheepishly.

"Umm, okay." Tsunomon twitched.

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Sakura sighed, as she locked the door behind her. "So, what's this about you being my partner?"

Tsunomon grinned. "Digimon destined to have a partner feel a strong pull towards their chosen human - that's how I found you."

She gave him a blank look. "And you chose... Me?"

"Pretty much, yeah. Hey, what's your name, anyway?"

Sakura flushed. "Sakura Haruno. And you're... Tsunomon?"

"Yup, that's me. Although, this is only my in-training form. If you accept me as your partner, I'll be able to draw on your spiritual energy, and digivolve, transforming to a form that's larger and stronger."

The pinkette raised an eyebrow. "What do I get out of this? I kinda need my spiritual energy, being a ninja."

The fuzzy digimon winked. "Well, you get me. It's a digimon's job to protect their partner, with their life if necessary."

She thought for a moment, weighing her choices. While it was true that she didn't have much chakra to spare, the drain on her reserves would likely benefit her in the long run, by forcing them to expand. That, and he was just so cute! She giggled. "Alright, what do I have to do?"

"Just grab my horn, and say 'I accept you as my partner'."

Gently, she laid her hand on his scythelike horn, and took a deep breath. "I... Accept you, as my partner. What now?"

He grinned, as he began to glow. "Digivolution. Tsunomon, digivolve to..."

She closed her eyes as the light grew brighter, almost blinding in its intensity.

Another voice called out, much deeper than the first. "Gabumon!"

When the light subsided, Sakura opened her eyes to find a small, lizardlike creature standing before her, wearing a pelt that looked like a wolf's. He gave her a thumbs-up. "Digivolution succesful. You can call me Gabumon, now."

She raised an eyebrow, noting his much-larger form, and the addition of functional limbs. "How'd you do that?"

Gabumon shrugged. "I just... Did. Once I have enough power, or certain emotional conditions are met, it pretty much happens automatically."

"Emotional conditions?"

He nodded. "Tales tell us that Fanglongmon himself altered the digimon destined to have partners, making it so that they needed to pass certain tests in order to advance. So far as I know, it was an attempt to keep digimon from going berserk with too much power before they're ready. And speaking of which..." He looked up to the ceiling, to where a ball of light was forming. As they watched, the ball of light separated into two objects, one pal-sized, and one considerably smaller. Gently, they floated towards Sakura, plopping into her hands as she reached for them.

As she examined the necklace, she noted the tag attached to it, engraved with a symbol she'd never seen before - a green teardrop. She looked to the Digivice, and frowned. "What are these?"

"The one that looks like a watch is your Digivice - It's what allows you to transfer energy to me. I don't know what that necklace is, but it's probably important."

Sakura smiled, and slipped the necklace over her head, tucking the tag into the collar of her dress. After giving the digivice another speculative look, she slid it into her kunai pouch. "So, is that as large as you get, or are there other forms?"

"Lots of others. Digimon forms are classed in terms of power into five levels - In-Training, Rookie, Champion, Ultimate, and Mega. Tsunomon is my In-Training form, and Gabumon is my Rookie form."

She sat on her bed, leaning against the back wall. "So, do you know what your other forms are, or what they look like?"

"I do know... One. My Champion form is Garurumon, the Iron Wolf. In that form, I'd be almost as tall as you, on four legs."

Her eyes widened. "That's... pretty big. What can you do, in this form?"

He rubbed the back of his head, embarassed. "Not much, really... I have an breath attack that I call the Blue Blaster. I can freeze things with it."

Sakura grinned. "Cool."

Gabumon facepalmed.

They spent the next few hours getting to know each other. Once her initial reaction of 'Squee! Cute!' died down, she discovered that the furry blue digimon was quite the intellectual, much like herself. He was particularly interested in the history of the new world he found himself in, and listened avidly to Sakura's tales of the Hokage and their exploits.

"The First Hokage sounds like quite the character. All of these massive trees, were made by him?"

Sakura nodded. "Yep. He wanted a place that was hard to reach, but Fire Country is mostly grassland, not exactly ideal for hiding a village in. So, once the village got started, he used his Wood Jutsu to grow a forest, and named the Senju's new home the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

Gabumon's eyes were wide. "Whoa..."

The young kunoichi-in-training giggled. "Yeah. The Hokage is almost always the strongest ninja in the village, and some of them have done some pretty amazing things. The Second Hokage was a master of water jutsu - even with no water nearby, he could pull enough water out of the air to summon massive water dragons, and even huge lakes, in the middle of a battlefield. The Third Hokage, the one in office now, is a master of _all_ elemental ninjutsu, and it's said that he can even do two or three elemental jutsu at the same time."

"That sounds hard. Is it hard?"

Sakura rolled her eyes, a rueful smile on her face. "Yes, Gabumon. It's hard. Even most jonin, which is the level right below the Hokage, can only fire off two techniques really close together. The concentration, to do more than one at the same time..." She shook her head. "I can't even imagine. Of course, I don't know any elemental jutsu yet... Just the basics, like Transformation, and Substitution... And clone, although that one isn't terribly useful."

Gabumon raised a furry eyebrow. "You can clone yourself? How on earth do you do that?"

"Hehehe, wanna see? I've been practicing, 'cause the exams are coming up soon."

He shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

As she stood from the bed, she closed her eyes, and briefly formed a Ram seal. From nowhere that Gabumon could see came a puff of smoke, and when it cleared, there were three Sakura standing before him. The one on his left grinned, and put her arm through the clone next to her. "It's just an illusion though. It's good for tricking an enemy, but it can't actually do any harm." Channeling a trickle of chakra into her hand, she swiped it through the two clones, dispelling them.

"That looks really useful."

She frowned. "You think so? I mean, it can be used to make your enemy attack someplace where you're not, but my stealth skills aren't all that great, so they'd probably find me anyway."

He frowned. "Why not work on your stealth skills then? That sounds like it'd be pretty important, for a ninja."

Sakura blushed, her face heating up uncomfortably. "I have... Other things, that distract me."

"Like what?"

She bit her lip. "Well, there's this guy..."

Gabumon sighed, and shook his head sadly. "If you're expected to go out, and fight, and you don't train hard... You could die, Sakura. You don't want to know what happens, to the unprepared..."

Sakura frowned. "What happened?"

"I... Don't really want to talk about it, if that's OK. It's a very painful thing to remember." He stared resolutely at the floor, his foot-claws swinging listlessly off the edge of the bed.

The pinkette was spared from a reply, by her mother.

"Dinnertime!"

She groaned. "Oh, man, mom is gonna freak."

Gabumon chuckled. _You're a lucky girl, Sakura, if that's your greatest trouble. I don't know for sure, but something tells me... Things are gonna get wild, and soon. _With a small smile on his face, he hopped off of the bed, bracing himself to meet his partner's mother.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Crap, I'm gonna be late!"

Renamon chuckled. "Calm down, Naruto. You still have half an hour before class starts."

Her partner beat his head against a nearby wall. "I am sooo not ready for this... My clone still sucks!"

He'd been going to Iruka for a week now, asking for advice on his worst jutsu. The academy instructor had been surprised at first, but had quickly agreed to help him... Not that it had done much good. As best as he could tell, Naruto simply had too much chakra to be able to perform the Clone correctly; Iruka theorized that Naruto would do much better with one of the more advanced, elemental clones, but academy students weren't allowed to learn those, as they required too much chakra. Well, too much for any academy student but Naruto, that is. Still, he had made some improvement. At least his clones wouldn't collapse on their own, now. They just sat there, looking vaguely green, until he dismissed them. Unfortunately, that was not enough to pass the test. He had to get the clones to look exactly like him, or he'd fail. And, having white holes for eyes was a pretty big mistake, unless you were a Hyuuga.

Which he wasn't.

That said, he knew the theoretical and taijutsu portions well enough by now. Maybe he could scrape by on those scores? It was unlikely, but he still had to try. Shouldering his backpack, he scanned his apartment, making sure he wasn't missing anything. He frowned, as his eyes rested on his goggles.

_Should I...? No. Today's the day I become a ninja, believe it!_

As he turned to run out the door, he ran straight into Renamon, almost knocking her over.

She laughed, and wrapped him in a furry hug. "Relax. You'll do fine."

He smiled softly. "Thanks... Rena-chan."

The yellow fox tensed, and then laughed. "Anytime, Naruto. That's... That's what partners do." She blushed, glad that Naruto couldn't see it beneath her fur.

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Naruto practically vibrated in his seat, as he waited for his name to be called. Having a last name like his was torture, come exam day - even the Uchiha got to go before him. He scowled, as the pretty-boy stalked back into the room, proudly bearing his new headband. _Of course he doesn't have trouble with the clone jutsu. God forbid their precious __**Sasuke-kun **__fail._

"Uzumaki, Naruto!"

The young academy student sighed, as he trudged towards the test room. He'd actually done quite well on the theoretical and taijutsu portions of the exam - He'd been sparring with Renamon all week, and as agile as she was it took all of his creativity to keep up; Afterwards she would help him study. Having someone who cared about his success meant quite a lot to him, and under Renamon's firm instruction, he learned more quickly than Iruka would've thought possible.

There's something to be said for one-on-one instruction.

Still, they'd only been at it for a week, and he was far from perfect.

He crossed his fingers as he entered the testing room, feeling the soft 'whoosh' of air as Renamon joined him. Iruka looked up from his desk, and smiled kindly.

_I really hope he passes this time... He's actually been working hard recently. It would be a shame if all that effort went to waste. _"Alright, Naruto, you know the drill. Substitution?"

Naruto nodded, and an instant later, had switched with a small log in the corner, set aside for that purpose.

Iruka nodded. "Good, good." He marked something on his clipboard, presumably a passing mark.

Mizuki crossed his arms. "Now, the Transformation."

At Naruto's evil grin, Iruka frowned. "A _legitimate_ transformation, Naruto. Change into me."

With a small pout, Naruto formed a ram seal. In a poof of smoke, an exact replica of Iruka stood before them. With another poof, he was back to his normal appearance.

Iruka smiled. "Just one more to go. The Clone Jutsu."

An icy ball of dread gathered in Naruto's stomach, as he once again formed a Ram seal. _C'mon, work... _As his chakra began to flare up around him, he released the technique, hoping it would be enough.

"Well, at least they're standing up straight," Mizuki pointed out helpfully.

Iruka sighed. The clones were indeed greatly improved, but it still wasn't enough. The overall color was still quite pale, and their eyes were still a blank white - not good enough to fool even a civilian. "...Fail."

"C'mon, Iruka, can't you cut the kid a break? It's his third try, so you know he's worked for it. Anyone who didn't know he's not a Hyuuga would be fooled."

The senior instructor twitched. "Yes, aside from the fact that no Hyuuga would be caught dead in _neon-bright orange_."

"Well, yeah, there is that..." Mizuki sighed. "Tough luck, kid."

Naruto barely heard them as he trudged out the door.

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Renamon bit her lip as she watched Naruto moping on his swing, gazing sadly at the families of those who'd passed. "There's always next year, isn't there?"

He grunted, and if anything, his brooding intensified. "Next year, I'll be a year older than my classmates. Dead last, couldn't pass. They give you three chances, you know. You only have to pass one set of exams, and you're a ninja. But I... I couldn't even manage that much."

"Hey now, don't be so down on yourself. The reason you can't do the Clone Jutsu is because you have a lot of chakra, right? Having a lot of chakra is a good thing." She swung down, hanging on the branch by her toes, and looked into his eyes. "Work hard, and you'll get it."

Naruto growled. "What do you think I've been doing?"

Renamon leaned back, surprised. "I just meant-"

"Go away."

She fell out of the tree. As she dusted herself off, he could see that she wore a shocked expression. "What did you say...?"

He scowled at her. "I said GO AWAY! I don't need you. I don't need ANYONE."

She faded into nothingness. Unseen by him, she ran away from the tree, tears streaming down her face.

For a moment, he sat there, stewing. Then, he realized what he'd done. _Ahh, crap. She didn't deserve that... Gahh! I'm such an idiot! _As he rose up from the swing to go and find her, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"...Mizuki-sensei?"

Mizuki smiled at him. "Hey, Naruto. You seem to be feeling pretty down - wanna talk about it?"

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Naruto bit his lip nervously, as the old shack Mizuki had told him to meet at came into view. _This sounds really, really risky. I wish Rena were here to help me... _He sighed. After Mizuki's explanation of the make-up test, he'd gone searching for his wayward partner, hoping to apologize to her; but he never found her. So, with a heavy heart, he'd done as Mizuki asked alone.

And here he was, with a Forbidden Scroll. As he cracked it open, his eyes widened, his partner temporarily forgotten._ Whoa... These are some really crazy jutsu. And this one - a shadow clone? Perfect! Even if I do somehow fail, I'll be able to ace the exam next time._

With that thought in mind, he got to work.

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A Few Hours Later...

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Naruto wiped the sweat from his brow, and closed the scroll. _Hehehe... I did it! Now Iruka-sensei has to pass me!_

Almost as if the thought itself had summoned him, the swarthy instructor landed on a nearby branch, giving Naruto his best death-glare.

His wayward student grinned. "Hey there, Iruka-sensei! Didja get lost, or something? I thought you'd be here a lot sooner."

Iruka frowned. _Wait, what? Something isn't right, here._ "Naruto, do you realize what you've _done_?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I passed the make-up exam! I learned a technique from the scroll, so you have to pass me, right? That's what Mizuki-sensei said."

The academy instructor's face paled, as he realized what was going on. "Naruto, get down!"

As Naruto fell to the earth, a hail of kunai struck the shed behind him. "What the hell!"

Mizuki smirked from a nearby tree. "Well well, looks like the two idiots managed to find each other. Naruto! Give me the scroll."

Iruka growled. "Naruto! Whatever you do, DO NOT give him that scroll! There are seals in there that are forbidden for a reason - Mizuki is just using you to try and steal it."

Naruto glared at the traitorous chunin, who was grinning at this point.

"Tell you what, Naruto. In exchange for that scroll, I'll tell you the truth... You see, I know the reason why so many of the villagers hate you, why they look at you that way."

The young academy student's eyes widened. "There's a reason...?"

Iruka snarled at the silver-haired traitor. "That's forbidden, Mizuki! You know that!"

Mizuki plowed on, ignoring the other teacher completely. "That's right. You remember the story, of how the Fourth Hokage sealed the nine-tailed fox?"

Naruto nodded slowly. "Yes...?"

Iruka could only stare in abject horror, held in place by Mizuki's 'Monologue no Jutsu'.

The silver-haired man smirked. "Twelve years ago, the Third passed a special law, forbidding anyone to talk about this. You see, when the Fourth fought the fox, he couldn't kill the beast... No... He had to seal it, in a baby. When that happened, the fox destroyed the baby's mind, and took over. Naruto Uzumaki, _you_ are the Nine-Tailed Fox!"

"What the hell are you talking about!?" Naruto shrank back, his eyes wide.

"Hehehe... That's right. You are the demon fox that attacked the village, and killed so many... Including Iruka's parents. Did he mention that? How amusing, that you dream to be Hokage, when it was the Fourth himself who sealed you up! All your life, you've been lied to, and now you know why." The traitor grinned, as he unlatched a shuriken from his back. "And yeah... Iruka hates you too. Why wouldn't he, when you made him an orphan? As a matter of fact, no one loves you, and no one ever will." Laughing maniacally, he threw the shuriken at the orange-clad blonde.

Finally managing to break free of the genjutsu, Iruka knocked Naruto over, expecting to feel a shuriken in his back.

To his surprise, he did not.

Mizuki stared in horror, as the giant shuriken stopped in midair, spun around once or twice, and sent itself back at him. As shocked as he was, he was still a chunin, and he dodged the projectile with ease.

Naruto, meanwhile, was staring with confusion at the face of his mentor. "Why did you...?"

Iruka sighed, and moved himself off of his student, facing Mizuki. "Because we're the same. I know what it's like, to grow up without parents, without love... Believe me, I know. I was also a trickster back in my day, did you know that? I just wanted someone to acknowledge me, as a person. It hurt so bad... And I know, you felt it too. I should've been there for you, and I wasn't. I'm sorry."

Mizuki growled. "Enough with the sob story, already! I don't know what kind of trick you used, demon brat, but it won't happen again!" With a puff of smoke, he substituted for a nearby branch, and threw his other shuriken. Iruka saw it in time to avoid fatal injury, but not enough to be completely unscathed; the shuriken had lodged in his shoulder, making his right arm effectively useless. Mizuki flipped down from the tree and drew a kunai, a sadistic grin on his face. "And now, demon... You die!"

Naruto scowled at the silver-haired traitor, as he set the scroll down, and formed a single handseal. "No, asswipe. You're the one that's gonna die. Shadowclone Jutsu!"

With a series of rapid 'pop's, several hundred Naruto clones appeared all around the clearing, each hell-bent on causing as much pain as possible to the rogue instructor.

Mizuki wet himself.

With a menacing grin, the original Naruto pointed at the object of his ire. "CHARGE!"

And then proceeded to beat the shit out of him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A Few Minutes Later...

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Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Heh, guess I overdid it a little."

Iruka smiled at his student, doing his best to ignore the twitching pile of goo his assistant had become. "What I don't get is, how that shuriken got deflected. I saw it stop in midair, turn around, and throw itself at Mizuki - Shuriken aren't supposed to do that."

The young academy student's eyes widened. "Rena-chan?"

The golden vixen sighed, as she materialized. "Yes, it's me."

In a heartbeat, Naruto was latched onto her, burying his face in her fur. What he was saying was muffled, but she got the gist of his apology. She smiled, and wrapped her arms around him. "I was never mad at you. Nobody can be perfect all the time."

He grinned. "Hey, Iruka-sensei! I'd like you to meet - " He broke off at Iruka's horrified look. Naruto frowned. "What?"

Shakily, Iruka pointed with his good arm. "Is that...?"

Renamon's eyes widened, as she realized what he meant. Then, she began to laugh quietly. "No, I'm not the demon. I didn't even know that such a thing existed, until Mizuki's little speech. Only one tail, see?" She tickled Naruto's nose with her tail for emphasis.

Iruka let out a tired sigh.

Naruto bit his lip. "Iruka-sensei, about the fox..."

"No, Naruto, you're not the fox. Mizuki was only half-right - when the Fourth sealed the beast inside of you, he made absolutely certain that its prison kept it from interfering with your mind. At least, that's what we've been told."

At his student's dismayed look, Iruka smiled. "But, from what I've seen, your personality makes it absolutelyclear that you're not the demon."

The orange-clad child frowned. "How's that?"

Iruka grinned. "Well, you're not smart enough, for one thing."

"Hey!"

Renamon and Iruka both laughed.

Iruka scratched his nose, and then grinned. "Hey, Naruto. C'mere, I want to give you something."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Next Morning...

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Naruto was practically walking on air as he entered the classroom. _Today's the day, today's the day! _He was a genin, Renamon wasn't mad at him, and Iruka had openly admitted that he was one of his favorite students; Life really didn't get much better than that._ I wonder who my teammates are gonna be? Oh, god, I hope it's not Sasuke... Then again, me and Rena would be practically forced to prank the hell outta him. Forced, I tell you!_

He paused for a moment, trying to figure out who he was talking to, but then he shrugged. It wasn't really that important - every ninja went at least a little crazy. Right?

With a sigh of content, he settled back into his seat, for once not bothering to try and sit beside Sakura. From an adjacent desk, Shikamaru raised a sleepy eyebrow. "Hey, Naruto, this room is for those who passed. What are you doing here?"

His only response was a grin, and a middle finger.

Rolling his eyes, the spiky-haired boy decided that he'd much rather take a nap than figure it out.

Naruto practically vibrated in his seat as Iruka ambled slowly into the room, holding a clipboard. Deliberately taking his time, he sank into the little-used chair behind his desk, and sighed. Noticing the hostile glares that many of the recently-graduated genin were giving him, he grinned. "Oh, right! The team assignments. Ahem."

As the various teams were called out, Naruto began to sweat. The list of people besides Sasuke who could end up on his team were dwindling. Finally, Iruka announced Team Seven.

"Uzumaki Naruto,"

_Not Sasuke, not Sasuke..._

"Haruno Sakura..."

_Yeah! Not Sasuke! Not Sasuke, not-_

"And Uchiha Sasuke."

_Dammit!_

Naruto glared at Iruka, who smirked right back. _There will be __**blood**__._

_Heh, just try it kid. I dare ya._

Defeated, Naruto groaned as he slumped onto his desk.

Sakura, meanwhile, was in the middle of freaking out. _Ohmigodohmigodohmigod__**SASUKE**__! Squee!_

Sasuke simply resumed his brooding, though, to be fair, at a slightly higher intensity.

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An Hour Later...

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As the second-to-last team left the room, Iruka looked up from his paperwork at Team Seven. "Well, have fun waiting for your new sensei. He's probably not going to be here for a while, so you should probably use this chance to get to know each other better."

As their ex-instructor left the room, Naruto sighed, and took off his jacket. "Is it getting hot in here, or is it just me?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. _Please. As if I'd ever fall for - is that what I think it is? _"Hey, Naruto... Where'd you get that necklace of yours?"

Naruto's face heated up. "I, uhh... Found it." Since he'd learned about what lay inside him, he'd been rather reluctant to reveal his partner's existence, especially since she was a fox as well.

The pinkette frowned, and pulled out her own necklace. "Naruto, you're a terrible liar. Who's your partner?"

"...Renamon. And yours?"

She smiled. "Gabumon."

Both of them turned to Sasuke, who sighed, and pulled out his own crest tag. "Agumon."

Sakura giggled. "We all have partners? That is so cool! Hey Sasuke, what does yours look like?"

"...You're not gonna leave me alone unless I tell you, are you?"

She and Naruto shook their heads in unison.

Sasuke sighed. "Fine. Like Godzilla, but waist-height, and orange."

The pinkette raised an eyebrow, somewhat disturbed. "Umm, okay. What about yours, Naruto?"

"Well, she's standing right behind Sasuke."

The raven-haired boy literally jumped out of his seat, as he spun to face Renamon.

She waved. "My, someone's jumpy."

Sakura giggled, despite herself.

"How the hell did you sneak up on me?"

Renamon grinned, and faded into invisibility. "Like this, of course." When she reappeared, she stood next to Naruto, her hand on his shoulder.

"...Hn."

For the next hour or so, they sat silently, each pondering on what the future might bring.

_ My teammates have partners as well... Interesting. If they're as strong as they say they are, the Digimon will be a valuable asset to our team. It might even make up for the fact that I'm on a team with __**Naruto**__, of all people._ Sasuke sighed._ Honestly, what the hell were they thinking, putting me on the same team as that guy? His partner might be good at stealth, but Naruto himself is dead-last... And Sakura isn't much better. Blasted fangirls..._

Occasionally, Sakura would glance slyly over at Sasuke, and grin goofily. _OhmigodohmigodohmigodSasuke! I totally lucked out!_

Naruto's thoughts, however, were slightly less team-oriented. _Should I have beef ramen tonight, or pork...? I think I'll have pork - Rena-chan likes the beef better._

Eventually, the blond snapped out of his dinner-related musings long enough to look at the clock. The excitable blonde twitched. "Did someone mess with the clock, or has it really been two hours since our sensei was supposed to show up?"

Sakura sighed. "Yes, Naruto, it really has been two hours."

"That's just not right." Naruto crossed his arms, and eyed the doorway speculatively.

Sasuke knew that look. "Hn." _I hereby deny any responsibility for whatever is about to go down. _

As Naruto picked up a dusty eraser, Sasuke smirked. "Surely you can come up with something better than _that_."

Sakura facepalmed. _Oh, no, don't __**encourage**__ him..._

The orange-clad genin shrugged. "With no materials, there's not much I can -" His eyes widened. "Oi, Rena-chan!"

The golden vixen materialized before him. "Yes?"

"I need ya to go and get some stuff for me." Reaching into his kunai pouch, he withdrew some coins from gama-chan. Leaning in close, he whispered something that neither Sakura nor Sasuke could hear.

Renamon grinned. "Back in a sec."

-A Few Minutes Later-

Naruto grinned as Renamon ducked through the window, carrying a mess of wires, a shaker of some kind, and... a merengue pie?

"Ohh, yeah, that's the stuff." Quickly, he went to work, attaching wires to the ceiling in a complicated pattern. Turning to the pie, he sprinkled a whitish-colored powder on top.

Sasuke nodded appreciatively. _Itching powder, probably. Smart move, making it white - against the pie, it'll be practically invisible. Whoever it is might actually eat some of it._

Carefully slotting the pie into his wire contraption, Naruto stepped back to admire his work. "Yeah, that should do it."

Renamon laughed. "And now, we wait."

Almost as if on cue, they heard a soft set of footsteps approaching the door.

Naruto rubbed his hands together gleefully. _C'mon, c'mon..._

A gloved hand appeared, sliding the door open. "Hello, te-" SPLAT.

As Kakashi stood there, covered in pie, his face itching like crazy, he came to a solid conclusion. "I hate you all. Meet on the roof."

As he left the room, Naruto grinned, and gave Renamon a high-five.

Sakura giggled, and Sasuke smirked.

-On The Roof-

Having wiped himself clean, and having removed the itching powder with a minor medical jutsu, Kakashi stood waiting, his arms crossed. With a resigned sigh, he sat on the edge of the roof. "Alright, team. Since we just met, I think we should take this opportunity to get to know each other better. Things you like, things you hate, that sorta thing." _And when I figure out which of you set up that pie trap, i will make __**sure**__ that you regret it._

Sakura frowned. "Shouldn't you go first, to give us an example?"

"...My name is Kakashi Hatake. That's really all you need to know. I'd tell you more, but then I'd have to kill you."

Her eyes widened. "You're joking, right?"

He smirked. "Maybe. Your turn, pinkette."

"Sakura Haruno." She bit her lip. "Please don't kill me."

Kakashi sighed. Jeez, I didn't think she'd take me seriously. "And you, oh Dark One?"

"Hn. Sasuke Uchiha. Please do kill Sakura."

"HEY!" Sakura huffed.

Sasuke smirked.

Not waiting for an invitation, Naruto grinned. "Naruto Uzumaki! I'm gonna be the next Hokage, believe it!"

Kakashi eye-smiled._ Not a chance in hell, kid. _"That's nice. Tomorrow, all of you are going to meet me at training ground 3, at 8 o'clock sharp. Got it?"

All three of his genin nodded.

"Good. Tomorrow is the real test - the one that determines whether you become active genin, or simply go back to the academy for more training. Oh, and make sure not to eat anything beforehand - I wouldn't want you throwing up all over the training field."

Sakura paled. "But, didn't we already pass the test to become genin?"

Kakashi chuckled. "You passed the _first_ test. The second is left up to the individual instructor. Prepare well, munchkins." With that, he vanished into a puff of smoke.

Sakura glanced over hopefully at her crush. "Hey Sasuke, do you wanna - "

"No."

She deflated.

Naruto, for once, kept his mouth shut.

-At Home-

Naruto sighed as he sat on his balcony, watching the sun set over the village.

Renamon slipped through the doorway, two cups of instant ramen steaming in her hands. It wasn't her favorite thing in the world, but hey, it was food. Handing one of the cups to Naruto, she sat on the rail, her feet hanging off the edge.

"Thanks, Rena-chan."

She nodded. "Something wrong?"

He shrugged. "Just thinkin', is all."

"What about?"

"...Sakura. She's never gonna like me, is she?"

Renamon's eyes turned downwards, watching the villagers as they ended the day. "She's not the only girl in the village, you know."

He sighed again. "I know. But, with me being who I am... _what_ I am... There's no way I'll find a girl who'd go for me anyway."

She frowned. "That's not true. Surely, as large as this village is, there's at least one girl who'd accept you despite the fox." _As I do._

Naruto closed his eyes. "Maybe."

-The Next Day-

Naruto yawned as he strode into the small clearing, working the cricks out of his neck.

Sakura twitched. "You're almost two hours late!"

He shrugged. "Sensei isn't here yet, is he?"

"Well, no..."

Naruto grinned. "Then I'm not late."

From behind the young kunoichi, a white-and-blue-furred creature peeked out. "Hello, I'm Gabumon."

Renamon bowed slightly. "Nice to meet you. I'm Renamon."

From underneath a particularly shady tree, Agumon waved. "Yo. I'm Agumon."

Naruto jumped, as Kakashi appeared behind him. "Who are these? Come to watch you fail, have they?"

Renamon crossed her arms. "I am Naruto's partner. When he fights, so do I."

Agumon and Gabumon nodded.

Kakashi shrugged. "Alright, then." _I gotta say, that was unexpected. Then again, I can use this... Yes, that'll make an excellent modification. _He held up two small bells. "Your objective is to grab one of these bells, before time runs out. If one of you gets one, and your partner has one as well, you become my apprentices. Everyone else, fails."

Sakura spluttered. "Hey! That's not fair. That means that at least two of us are going back to the academy!"

The cycloptic jounin eye-smiled. "Sakura, ninja don't play fair. If you haven't learned that lesson yet, you don't deserve to be one."

The pinkette subsided into a miserable silence.

Kakashi tied the bells to his belt, making sure to keep an eye on his students as he did so. "If you don't give this everything you have, you will fail." Almost casually, he reached behind him and grabbed Renamon's arm, tossing her into the river. "Nice try. But you'll need better stealth skills than that to sneak up on a jounin."

She surfaced quickly, glaring at the grey-haired ninja. Wincing, she climbed up onto the bank. "I think my arm's dislocated..."

Naruto growled, and launched himself at his new sensei, hurling several kunai as he did so.

Kakashi's eye widened. _Impressive speed, for a genin. _He caught Naruto's arm as the boy reared back to deck him, and noticed a slight flicker in the boy's eyes. _Interesting. I didn't think he'd be able to use its chakra so soon... It's only a little, barely noticeable, but it's there. He must be quite close to that partner of his. _As he casually tossed Naruto over one shoulder, he yawned. "Next?"

Sakura sweat-dropped. _Oh, no... There's no way I could take on Kakashi-sensei, even with Gabumon's help. He's just too strong! I'm gonna fail..._

As her shoulders slumped, Gabumon laid a furry paw on her arm. "Think, Sakura. What do you think the test is about?"

She bit her lip. "Getting the bells?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. _Well, this is unexpected. Their partners might actually be smarter than they are._

Gabumon shook his head. "You think he expects a single genin and their partner, to beat him? That's not feasible, and I seriously doubt that that's the true goal of the test."

Her eyes widened. "You mean...?" She looked over at Sasuke, and he nodded grudgingly.

_ Much as I hate to admit it, the yellow midget has a point. Kakashi's had years of experience over us, and who knows how many hundreds of jutsu he's learned in that time. We may not even be able to beat him with all three of us, but if we show that we can work together, we may not have to. Although, working with these two will probably do more harm than help._

Immediately, they leaped into the underbrush, intent on finding their third teammate.

Kakashi gave a low chuckle. _Well, it seems I might actually pass these three. Of course, that doesn't mean I can't have a little fun with them first._

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Two Hours Later

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The three genin and their partners lay in a panting heap, as Kakashi looked on with an amused eye. "Sad to say, none of you got any bells."

Sakura groaned.

Kakashi completely ignored her, as he finished. "But, you did work together... So, you pass."

It was a mark of how tired he was that Naruto couldn't even manage to scrape together a victory dance.

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	2. Team Bonding

Partners For Life

Chapter 2: Team Bonding

Sorry for the delay, but this one was... bad. Most of the chapters probably won't need to be completely rewritten, but this one certainly did - I have no idea what the hell I was thinking, cos writing it did absolutely nothing to advance the storyline.

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Kakashi laid back lazily in a tree, as he watched his students go about their task. They'd been assigned a D-rank to clear a farmer's field - he'd forgotten the name of the farmer, but honestly, did it matter? The silver-haired jounin sighed. _I'm getting bored just __**watching**__ them. Still, D-ranks are something every team has to go through. Strengthening the village treasury, and all that. Gotta say though, it's not really doing much for their teamwork - if anything, they're about to kill each other out of boredom._

For a moment, he contemplated the pros and cons of _letting_ them kill each other. _Nahh. Pinky wouldn't be missed, but the Hokage would probably be mad at me if I let the village jinchuriki die, not to mention the last Uchiha. Oh, well._

Down in the field, the last Uchiha was having similar thoughts. _Gahh! This is a waste of my time, and my talent. I should be training, dammit!_ He growled quietly, and attacked the next patch of rocky earth with perhaps _slightly_ more enthusiasm than was strictly necessary.

Naruto wiped his brow, as he picked up one end of a large log, Renamon on the other end. _Man, not being able to use shadowclones __**sucks**__. Why did Kakashi tell me not to use 'em, anyway? _

Almost as if she'd read his mind, his partner gave him an encouraging smile as they tossed the log over to the side of the field, where Sakura had been conscripted into chopping the logs into firewood. "Hey, cheer up. We're almost done."

He smiled back. _Well, at least I've got a friend to help. It doesn't seem near so bad with Rena-chan here._

Sakura swore under her breath, as she lifted the large lumber-axe for the _n_th time, and drove it into a log. _I can't shake the feeling that Kakashi-sensei is trying to tell me something. Is he saying I need more exercise?_

Unsurprisingly, that was _exactly_ what Kakashi was trying to say. Physically, Sakura was the weakest member of the team, and he aimed to fix that, one way or another.

A few feet over, Agumon wiped the soot from her mouth as she incinerated another pile of brush. _I know I'm not good at picking things up, but jeez... I feel like a garbage disposal._

Kakashi frowned, as he saw his students' frustration growing. Soon enough it would reach the boiling point, and then there might be property damage, which would be... bad. _Hmm... I need some sort of - oh. Yes, that'll work._ Loudly, he cleared his throat. "Alright, team, you can use jutsu now. Finish up, and meet at the training grounds." And with that, he vanished in a puff of smoke.

Naruto grinned, and Sasuke began to run through handseals.

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Kakashi smiled beneath his mask, as he sensed his students approaching. _Well, then. I guess they __**can**__ work quickly, when motivated. Of course, Naruto probably did most of the work, but still._

When all of his students had arrived, Kakashi cleared his throat and began to speak. "Alright, today's exercise is going to be a little bit different. You have five minutes to talk to each other - after that, I replace one of you at random. Your job is to figure out which one of you I've replaced. We'll repeat this until you get it right the first time, ten times in a row. Questions?"

All three genin and their partners shook their heads, and he eye-smiled. "Begin."

With that, he vanished.

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Naruto was the first to offer a suggestion. "Passphrase?"

Sakura shook her head. "Too easy for an enemy to overhear. We need to find something that all three of us already know, that most people wouldn't."

"Hn." Sasuke nodded.

Renamon thought for a moment. "Well, that's easy. What are we?" She indicated herself, Gabumon, and Agumon.

Gabumon nodded. "That'll work."

Agumon crossed her arms. "I dunno... It seems _too_ easy. This is Kakashi, after all."

Naruto groaned. "Freaking mind games..."

Sakura frowned. "We're going to have to do this more than once... Which means we need different questions every time."

Gabumon nodded. "So, what should we-"

Sasuke closed his eyes. "Five minutes are up."

Collectively, Team 7 looked around. Nothing happened.

Naruto frowned. "Didn't he say he was gonna switch with one of us?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "He probably already _has_. He's a jounin, remember?"

His blonde teammate eyed him suspiciously. "Hey... You're trying to psych us out, aren't you? I bet you're the impostor!"

The last Uchiha twitched. "Naruto... You're an idiot."

The blonde rolled up his sleeve. "Am not!"

Sakura watched the two boys, thinking. _Something's not right here... Of course!_ She pointed at Renamon. "Hey, you didn't say you were gonna replace one of our partners! That's-" She caught herself. _Of course. Ninja don't play fair._

In a 'poof' of smoke, the golden vixen became their teacher. "Good work, Sakura. How did you figure out it was me?"

She crossed her arms. "If you had been the _real_ Renamon, you would've at least glared at Sasuke when he called Naruto an idiot. You didn't react at all."

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly, as Renamon jumped down from a nearby tree. "I knew that."

She laughed gently. "I'm sure you did." _Observation never __**has**__ been his strong suit. Just look at that white-eyed stalker of his..._

In another puff of smoke, Kakashi vanished again. Gabumon frowned. "Wait... Do we get another five minutes?"

Renamon sighed. "Probably not."

Sasuke crossed his arms. "Naruto. What's your crest tag? _Since he always keeps it inside of his shirt, there's no way Kakashi-sensei would know about it._

The blonde frowned. "A shield, wh- Oh."

The raven-haired genin looked to his other teammate. "And yours?"

Without warning, the pinkette pulled out a kunai, and leapt at him. Barely managing to roll away in time, Sasuke came up in a fighting stance. "Well, now we know who the impostor is."

'Sakura' smirked, and vanished in a puff of smoke, revealing a black-suited ninja with a plain metal headband. In one swift motion he withdrew a smoke bomb, and hurled it at their feet. When the smoke cleared, he was gone.

Naruto scratched his head. "Umm, what just happened?"

Gabumon frowned, as he picked up a note that the impostor had apparently left behind. "_I've captured your teammate, and your sensei. Follow my trail, and if you want them to live, don't tell anyone else_."

Renamon facepalmed. "You know this is just Kakashi messing with our heads again, right?"

Agumon frowned. "He _does_ specialize in mindfuckery, but... I dunno. Something feels off."

Gabumon crumpled the note, growling. "If there's even the _slightest _chance -"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Then let's go."

For a few minutes they ran, in complete silence. The trail that the ninja had left was easy to follow, and soon they found themselves in the middle of a clearing. The 'kidnapper' leaned against a tree, with no sign of their lost teammate anywhere. He smirked. "Idiots. You're far away from the village, and there are no patrols in this part of the forest. You're completely at my mercy."

Gabumon narrowed his eyes. "Where's our teammate?"

The masked nin raised an eyebrow. "What, no concern for your sensei?"

Team Seven looked at itself collectively. Naruto shrugged. "No, not really."

Sasuke crossed his arms. "Are you going to tell us where she is, or not?"

The unnamed nin shook his head in disgust. "You really aren't that bright, are you?" In a bright flash of light, he vanished. "You've already fallen for my trap, you see."

Immediately, Team Seven formed a tight circle, keeping their backs to each other.

Naruto growled. "What do you _want_?"

Renamon sighed. "It's Kakashi. If it were a _real_ enemy ninja, he woul've-" She cut off, and for a brief moment seemed to glow from within, before she fell to the ground, her fur charred and smoking.

In an instant her partner was at her side. "Renamon! C'mon, wake up..."

Agumon stood with her back to them, looking out for another potential attack. Sasuke bent down, and put his fingers to the vixen's neck. "Relax, dobe. She's still alive."

Gabumon started, as he noticed something odd. "Hey, there's a hole in the ground here."

Agumon sniffed at the hole. "Whoever he is, he knows how to move underground."

Sasuke opened his mouth to reply, but then stopped, shivering as he felt a wave of... _something_, an evil aura radiating from his teammate.

Naruto opened his eyes, which were now red and slitted. "Whoever the hell he is, I'm gonna make him _hurt_." Tenderly, he lifted his partner, leaping up into a nearby tree and laying her down on a particularly wide branch. When he looked down, Sasuke could see that the blond boy's eyes were a flickering purple.

The raven-haired genin frowned. "What on earth...?"

Without warning, their sensei appeared behind Naruto, catching him in a chokehold. "Naruto! Calm. Down."

His ward twisted his neck to glare at the older man. With a brief flare of chakra, Kakashi knocked the boy out. "This training exercise is over." _Perfect. Just perfect. I'm going to need to rethink some things..._

A few minutes later, Team Seven sat in a circle. With the exception of Naruto, who was tied up, each of them sat next to their partner, waiting for an explanation. Kakashi smiled insincerely as he sat down, making note of Naruto's murderous expression. _At least he isn't still drawing on the fox._ "Okay, team. Can anyone tell me what the point of the exercise was?"

Agumon crossed her arms. "To fuck with us?"

Kakashi waved her off. "That's a given. Next?"

Sakura hesitated a moment. "To test our perception?"

He grinned. "Getting closer. Next?"

Sasuke frowned. _Now that we've gone over the obvious points... What does this have to do with teamwork? He's always harping on about it, makes sense that this would be another test. _"To test our willingness to stick together?"

Kakashi thought for a moment. _That __**was**__ the original point. Surprisingly perceptive, for someone so absorbed in himself. _"Close, but not quite. I wanted to test how far you would go to keep each other safe. Naruto, you passed with flying colors, even if you did get a little too... Enthusiastic." He gave the young jinchuuriki a pointed look, and Naruto looked down to one side. "As for the rest of you... You pass, if only just."

Sasuke crossed his arms. "What _was_ that?"

Naruto fumbled for a moment, before Renamon stepped in to save him. "It's his bloodline. He's the last surviving member of the Uzumaki clan, and he inherited their power."

Kakashi had to fight to not laugh. _The vixen is more right than she knows. Kushina helped design that seal, after all._

Sasuke looked at his teammate with an appraising eye. _Interesting. Maybe the idiot isn't completely useless after all._

Sakura, however, didn't buy it. _If it was his bloodline, he would've shouted it out to the world by now. God knows he'd love the attention it would get him. What else is going on, here?_

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Naruto sat on the edge of his roof, staring out over the village. It was a clear night, and the few stars that could be seen over the lights of the village twinkled softly. The village was winding down for the day - shopkeepers were closing up, and husbands and wives were returning home to the warmth of their families. He sighed. "I'm gonna have to tell them eventually, aren't I?"

Renamon faded into visibility, and landed lightly on the roof. She held a pair of mugs in her hand. "Eventually, yes." She offered him a mug, and he accepted it gladly.

"Mm, chocolate. Thanks, Rena."

She smiled. "You know, they probably wouldn't take it that badly."

Her partner's expression soured. "Sasuke, maybe not. But Sakura's grown up her whole life with stories about the Kyuubi, how monstrously evil it was, how it laid everything in its path to waste until it got killed by the mighty Fourth Hokage..." He sighed. "I used to look up to the guy, you know. Now, I'm not so sure."

She followed his gaze to the Hokage Monument. "It was a hard choice. The village would've been wiped out if he hadn't, right?"

He nodded. "I know. He did the right thing, I know that, but... Why me? Out of all the people in the Hidden Leaf, why did he pick some random orphan boy to be a host?"

Renamon thought for a moment. "Maybe he knew how awesome you'd turn out to be, and thought you were perfect for the job."

Naruto snorted softly. "Yeah. Right."

She sat down beside him, leaning against his shoulder. "We might never know."

He looked at her, then back at the monument. "You know... I think I could live with that. Maybe it doesn't matter. I'm here, and the fox is inside me, and you're here, and the village isn't blown to hell... I guess that has to be enough, ne?"

Renamon smiled. "Guess so." The fact that she'd been included in that list did not elude her.

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As the weeks passed them by, Team 7 began to grow. Not quickly, not even constantly, but they grew. They still sniped at each other, of course, but there was the barest hint of humor beneath the irritation, and perhaps at the end of each day they hated each other a little less.

Perhaps.

The missions, as usual for a fresh genin team, were D-rank. In short, busy-work meant more for funding the village than anything remotely ninja. There was, however, a single D-rank that actually tested ninja skills. Whenever this mission came up - and it always did, the target was just that slippery - Kakashi would special-request it for his genin, and Team Seven would give a collective groan of resignation.

Naruto sighed. "Why can't we just kill the damn thing and call it an accident?"

Sasuke shuddered. _I actually agree with the idiot on something. I feel so dirty._

Kakashi smiled in his usual infuriating manner. "And deprive you of the chance to practice your kidnapping skills? But, okay. You get to explain to the Daimyo's wife why her cat is dead, though." Noting the manic gleam in his students' eyes, he sighed. "No, you may _not_ kill the cat." With that, he 'poofed' away.

Sakura sighed. "Same plan as usual?"

Naruto nodded. "I'll herd it this time."

Sasuke leapt onto a nearby roof, already scanning the village for the cat. Their usual plan was to have one of them scare the living hell out of Tora, while the others blocked off its likely routes of escape. Catching the damn thing was harder than it sounded, though - Tora-hunts could last for hours on end, usually ending with Team Seven collapsed in a heap and the cat bound tightly with ninja wire.

Sasuke lifted a hand to his throat, activating his two-way radio. "Target spotted. It's in the middle of market row, on top of one of the merchant's stalls."

Sakura swore under her breath. Of all the places to hide, he _had _to pick the one that they couldn't move freely in. Though all of the Hidden Leaf's essential operations were funded by ninja missions, the merchants brought a significant amount of money into the village, and they tended to get mad when ninja knocked over their stalls. Or so she'd been told. "Naruto, let me handle this one. Your clones won't be of much use in a crowded area like that."

"Copy, Sakura-chan."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "We're supposed to use codenames, idiot."

Naruto grinned. "Okay. Your codename is Duck-ass."

"Naruto! That isn't funny. Let's just get back to the mission, okay?" Sakura sighed in exasperation.

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A few hours later, an extremely disheveled Team Seven limped into view of the Hokage Tower, carrying a writhing sack. Renamon glared at the sack, keeping it at a distance in her claws. She'd been the one to actually catch Tora, and it showed - Angry red scratch marks covered her face and arms, and her arm-warmers were looking distinctly worse for the wear. "Someday, Tora... Your end will be slow, and painful."

Sasuke snorted. "The only way that'd happen is if his owner squeezed him to death."

Naruto grinned. "I'd pay to see that."

Unbeknownst to them, the _real_ reason Kakashi kept making them catch Tora was because it was the one thing that Team Seven agreed on. That cat was _evil_. He smiled beneath his mask, as they stumbled into the mission room. _Another team-bonding exercise, successful._

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At long last, here it is. I know I kept you waiting a lot longer than I should have, but I had to beat my muse with a stick to get her to give me this. She's still glaring at me. This chapter was horrendously bad before the rewrite, but the next one likely won't need to be completely rewritten, so it'll probably be out sooner. As to why Kakashi is actually being helpful and training them a little more, my reasoning is thus: Because of their partners, they passed the bell test on the first try. Therefore, they showed (to Kakashi) that they have at the very least a chance to learn proper teamwork, and so he in turn is more willing to teach them.


	3. Champion of Wave

Partners For Life

Chapter 3: Champion of Wave

A/N: Well, here goes nothing. I was wanting to skip the Wave arc completely and do something else - it's kind of overdone at this point. Still, that would require completely rewriting both this chapter and the next, and... No. Just, no.

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Sarutobi raised an eyebrow as he heard not four, but seven sets of footsteps coming towards him. _Strange... I wonder what's happened to them since they've become genin?_ Sarutobi made an effort to keep track of everyone who served under him, but considering the sheer size of the Hidden Leaf's forces, he only saw each ninja an average of once a month. Today would be the first time he'd seen Team Seven since they'd graduated. He heard a polite knock on his door, and he said, "Enter."

Kakashi came in first, followed by his students. The Third frowned in confusion, as three... creatures... came in behind him. "And who, may I ask, are these?" He deliberately avoided the word 'what', though everyone knew he was thinking it.

Renamon bowed. "I am Renamon."

The other two followed suit. "Agumon." "Gabumon."

Sarutobi inclined his head. "Pleased to meet you. Care to explain exactly what you're doing here?"

Renamon spoke up. "These three signed a summoning contract with our clan. One of the terms they agreed to is that each would have a watcher, to relay news back to the clan."

The Third chewed on his pipe. _Interesting. I've never heard of summons like these. Still, a new clan allied to the village is always a welcome thing. I'll have to ask Kakashi how they found it later. _"Well, then. To have impressed a clan enough to let all _three_ of you sign a contract, you must be coming along well indeed. Perhaps you're prepared to take on a C-rank mission?" This last was directed at Kakashi, along with a raised eyebrow.

Kakashi nodded. "I believe that they are ready for one, Hokage-sama."

Naruto punched the air. "Alright!" And promptly began his patented 'victory dance'.

Renamon gave an amused chuckle. She leaned over, and stage-whispered, "If you keep this up, you won't be able to hear what your mission is." Immediately, Naruto shut up and stood still.

Sarutobi let out a quiet laugh. _I like this 'Renamon' already. _Clearing his throat, the Third continued. "Very well, then." He looked up to the door, hearing the heavy breathing of a drunkard on the other side. "You may come in, Tazuna-san."

The door opened, and Renamon's nose wrinkled as she caught a strong, and extremely unpleasant scent; It smelled like sweat, urine, and a third odor she couldn't identify... She covered her nose. An old, fat man walked in the door, a bottle in his hand. _So that's what that third smell was..._ _Alcohol. Oh, what fun._

Tazuna looked at the genin with a critical eye, before turning his gaze on Renamon. He grinned stupidly. "Hey there, gorgeous. What's with the mask?"

Renamon glared at him, and Kakashi had to physically restrain Naruto from attacking the bridge builder. "Lemme at him! I'm gonna kick this old pervert's ass!"

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, our mission is to _protect_ the client, not kill him."

Tazuna chuckled. "What, is she your girlfriend, or something?"

Naruto and Renamon both flushed beet-red, though Renamon's blush was almost invisible under her fur. Naruto glared at Tazuna. "She's my partner! Perverted geezer..."

The bridge-builder looked over the three genin with a critical eye. "These three runts are my protection? They don't look like they could protect a dog from a stray cat."

Sasuke twitched at the mention of cats. _Burn in hell, Tora._

Kakashi gave an amused chuckle. "That's the point. Ninja are all about deception, after all."

Tazuna looked unconvinced, but shrugged. "Alright, then. When are we leaving?"

The cycloptic jounin eyed his students, who were still weary from chasing Tora, or as Gabumon liked to put it, 'The hell-spawn that conveniently happens to _look_ like a cat'. "We leave tomorrow, at the crack of..." He paused to look at Tazuna. "...Noon. Pack up and be at the gate by then."

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Naruto gawked at the surrounding scenery, his previous ire all but forgotten. "Wow!"

Kakashi sweat-dropped. "Naruto, we're not even a mile from the gate..."

Naruto grinned blindingly. "I know! It's just... I've never been outside of the village before!"

Renamon shook her head, bemused. "If you think this is scenic, you haven't seen anything yet."

Kakashi looked at her curiously. "Oh?"

She gave a small smile, and continued. "At home, the towers of the Three Angels... now _that_ is a sight to behold."

Kakashi gave her a questioning look. "The Three Angels?"

She nodded. "Seraphimon, Ophanimon, and Cherubimon are the three who govern my... clan."

Kakashi noticed the slight hesitation at the word 'clan', but decided not to mention it. "Why, exactly, is it that all of your names end with 'mon?'

She shrugged. "Tradition, mostly. We started out as experiments, monsters; it was only later that we gained sentience, and so each of us bears the name 'mon', to remind us of what will happen, should we fall into darkness once more. Agumon and Gabumon are actually distant cousins of mine."

Tazuna looked at the three of them skepticallybut decided not to say anything.

They passed by a strange puddle, and though Kakashi took note of it, he said nothing. Silently, two mist nuke-nin rose from the puddle, and rushed towards the closest protector.

Which just happened to be Renamon.

They leapt at her, and Naruto shouted, "Rena-chan!" She tried to jump away, but the Demon Brothers' chain caught her just below her right foot... and cut it off. With a sick 'squelch', it separated from the rest of her body, and disentigrated into data. Naruto caught her. Renamon gritted her teeth, determined to not make a sound. She was a warrior, dammit!

The two chunin smirked. "Well, brother... let's finish her off, shall we?"

Naruo growled. "You bastards! Over my dead body! You're not getting anywhere near her!"

Meizu smirked. "Aww. Did we hurt your girlfriend?"

Naruto shut his eyes, fighting to keep himself under control when every instinct in his body told him he should let the Fox out to _devour_ these pathetic excuses for human beings.

The brothers picked that moment to attack, and as they rushed at him, Naruto drew two kunai, holding the deadly chain away from his partner. "Rena-chan is my partner, and I won't let you take her! She's..." He smiled, now eerily calm. "She's the best thing that ever happened to me. And that's why I'm gonna beat the hell outta you two!"

Sasuke made to join the fight, but Kakashi held him back. _If things go bad, I can always step in. I'm interested to see where this will go. _

Renamon, for her part, looked to her partner, her vision clouded by a haze of pain. "Naruto-kun..." She began to glow, and the Demon Brothers shielded their eyes, as they heard a voice coming from Naruto's pocket. "Digi-volution."

Renamon floated into the air, where an egg-shaped basket of light surrounded her.

Naruto stared, as every inch of her fur began to shine with an inner light, its brightness intensifying until she was almost painful to look at. Riding the high of an immense surge of power, she shouted, "Renamon, digivolve to...!" Within the egg, her fur began to come off of her body, as it had done before. When her frame was exposed, the area where her right foot had been regenerated, before she began to change into a larger, four-legged form. As the fur began to recover her, they could see a large, nine-tailed fox, adorned with several taijitu, and a giant bow tied around her neck. She shouted, now in a slightly deeper voice, "Kyuubimon!"

Kakashi went completely white. _What... The fuck!?_

Sasuke grimaced. _Way to go, idiot, now Kakashi-sensei knows they're not just summons._ Though he hated to admit it, he was also slightly jealous that Naruto's partner had digivolved before his.

Kakashi drew a kunai, his eye narrowing dangerously. "Naruto, that _better_ not be what I think it is."

The Demon Brothers wet themselves. "K-kyuubi!"

Kyuubimon glared at the would-be assassins. "No, but as far as you're concerned, I might as well be. Fox-tail inferno!" The tips of her tails glowed a brilliant blue, and small balls of flame shot from each tip. Five hit Meizu, killing him almost instantly; Gozu was little better off, though still alive.

Kakashi took a moment to assess the situation. _It clearly isn't __**the**__ nine-tails, or else we'd all be dead right now. However, that still doesn't explain_- "Naruto, what the _hell_ was that?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, somewhat embarassed. "Ehm, well, Rena-chan isn't exactly a summon..."

The cycloptic jounin rolled his visible eye. "You don't say. What _is_ she, then?"

Kyuubimon glowed, and shrank back into Renamon. "I am a Digimon. By the rules of our kind, I am bound to Naruto, and as he gets stronger... So do I."

Kakashi sheathed his kunai, though he still looked distrustfully at his student and his partner. "I see. I'm going to expect a much more thorough explanation later, but for now..." He turned to Gozu. "We have other business to take care of."

As he stalked towards the rogue mist-nin, Renamon wrapped Naruto in hug, surprising the hell out of him. She whispered, "When I digivolved... I could feel what you were feeling."

Naruto blushed. "I'm not really sure _what_ I was feeling."

She smiled, and closed her eyes. "I do. Love. And I want you to know... I return the feeling."

Her partner went stock-still, his face redder than a tomato. Slowly, the shock faded, replaced by a goofy grin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Meanwhile, Gozu was not having nearly so pleasant a time. He shivered in fear as the Copy-Nin approached him.

Kakashi squatted down next to the man, whose legs had been effectively crippled by Kyuubimon's fire. "Well, now. Care to tell us why you decided to ambush us?"

Gozu growled at him, trying to seem brave. He found it rather difficult to do while in agonizing pain. "Why should I tell you anything? I'm as good as dead anyway."

The silver-haired man shrugged. "Oh, you're _going _ to tell me, one way or the other. But if you do it willingly, I might be able to get you some medical help. You'll never be a ninja again, of course, but you might be able to walk again... Better get it treated fast, though, or even that will be out of your reach."

The younger of the two Demons sagged, recognizing the determination in his captor's eyes. "...We were hired to take out the bridge-builder."

Kakashi smiled, and patted him on the head. "See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" His good cheer vanished abruptly as he turned towards Tazuna.

The bridge-builder paled. _Ahh, shit._

Kakashi said nothing, merely watching the older man with his arms crossed.

It didn't take him long to break. "Alright, alright! Yes, I lied about the mission's rank. I didn't have a choice, though!"

The scarecrow raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

Tazuna hung his head. "Wave is a poor country, nowadays. A C-rank mission is all that I could afford. This bridge that I'm building... it's the only hope for our country."

Kakashi frowned. "And what do you mean by that?"

Tazuna sighed. "Recently, a man named Gato has come in, and taken over all of Wave's shipping industries."

Kakashi's eye widened. "Gato? Of the Gato corporation?"

Tazuna nodded wearily. "Yeah, that's him. Ever since he took over, he's been sucking Wave dry, both of money, and of hope. If I finish this bridge, we can finally get rid of him."

Kakashi nodded. "Still, you did lie to us, and I'm not entirely sure that my Genin can handle it."

Naruto frowned. "But, Kakashi-sensei-"

His sensei sent him a warning look. "No more from you, Naruto. You're in enough trouble, as it is."

The blonde boy hung his head.

Sakura bit her lip. "Kakashi-sensei... If we helped Wave get back on their feet, wouldn't that make a valuable source of trade for the Hidden Leaf? I mean, if by guarding the bridge we save the country... Surely, they'd remember that, right?"

He frowned. "You do have a point, Sakura. Alright, we'll put it to a vote. All in favor of turning back?"

Not a single hand was raised.

Kakashi sighed, bemused. "I should've known. Alright, then, we're continuing on. But the moment we get to Tazuna's house..." He looked back at Renamon, then Agumon and Gabumon. "We're going to have a _serious_ talk about hiding information from your superiors."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Naruto leaned against Renamon, his head spinning. _She loves me... Wow._ He closed his eyes, leaning into her furry warmth.

She smiled. [I meant what I said.]

He twitched, drawing a glare of irritation from the boatman. _What was that...?_

[We're connected now, in more ways than one. It's telepathy.]

Naruto looked at Renamon, eyes wide. [Coooool...]

She laughed quietly.

They spent the rest of the trip in silence, each enjoying the other's company. When they reached the shore, Tazuna thanked the boatman profusely, and they continued towards the old man's house.

It wasn't long, though, before they found trouble.

Renamon sniffed. "I smell... dried blood."

They all heard a whistling noise come from midair, and Kakashi yelled, "Get down!" Everyone but Renamon got down; she merely watched the sword, and when it came near her, she caught it, nearly breaking her wrist.

Zabuza appeared beside a nearby tree trunk, expecting to land on a sword; when he didn't, he quickly reached out to touch the tree, adhering himself to it with his chakra. He growled. "Impressive reflexes, fox-girl."

Kakashi looked up, and sighed. "The Demon of the Bloody Mist... Zabuza Momochi."

Renamon frowned. "What is it with the Hidden Mist and demons? What, do they give the title to everyone who makes genin?"

Naruto grinned. "Heh, I bet they do."

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. "In this case, the title might be deserved. This guy is on a whole 'nother level from the ninja we fought earlier. Stay back, and guard Tazuna."

Renamon nodded, and planted the Kubikiri Houcho in the ground at her feet.

Zabuza held out his hand. "Give me my sword, fox."

"Come and take it."

He growled. "I'm gonna enjoy killing you." He appeared in front of her her, and snatched back his sword, leaping away before she could react. Kakashi tossed a kunai at him as he fell to the ground, and the nuke-nin substituted himself with a white rabbit hiding in the bushes, splattering the genin and their partners with gore.

Kakashi narrowed his eye. _This is gonna be a tough fight... If it were just me, I could probably take him without too much trouble, but I gotta protect the kids, and the bridge-builder, as well. That being the case, I don't think I can afford to waste any time... I'm gonna have to go all-out._ Reaching up to his headband, he shifted it off of his left eye, revealing the three-tomoed Sharingan underneath.

Zabuza laughed. "So, the famous Copy-ninja, Kakashi of the Sharingan eye. This... this is gonna be fun." He chuckled evilly.

Sasuke's eyes widened. _The Sharingan? But how?_

Watching from the treetops, Haku's eyes widened. _With this many opponents... I'm not sure that even __**we**__ can win..._

Gabumon tensed as he heard something attempt to sneak up behind him. Without even thinking about it, he shouted, "Blue Blaster!" The others turned to see a Zabuza-sicle behind them, frozen in a crouching position.

Agumon spat, "Pepper Breath!", and shattered the ice, and the water clone within it, into a million pieces. Creating a circle around Tazuna, they prepared to meet anything else that Zabuza could send at them head-on. A thick mist covered the area, and a few seconds later, it was swarming with Zabuza-clones.

Naruto's eyes burned with determination, as he formed the now-infamous cross-seal. "Multi-Shadowclone Jutsu!"

Zabuza sweat-dropped. Not only were his clones outnumbered 3 to 1, each only had 1/10 the power that he did. He just hoped that the kid was a complete idiot... He sweat-dropped as some of the clones attempted to dog-pile one of his. _Yeah, he's an idiot._ Leaping back, he just barely avoided a slash from one of Kakashi's kunai.

"You didn't forget about me, did you?"

Zabuza growled. "You're gonna die today, Copy ninja."

Kakashi eye-smiled. "We'll see about that."

Zabuza flinched, and wiped a drop of blood from his cheek, as a stray crystal from Renamon's Diamond Storm cut through his bandages. Kakashi leapt forward to attack him, and the real Zabuza jumped out from behind a nearby tree, booted the copy-nin in the back, and then followed him onto the lake.

Kakashi emerged from the lake, straining. _Odd... this feels heavier than normal water..._

Zabuza smirked. "You've fallen right into my trap, copy-ninja." The Demon of the Mist ran, almost faster than the eye could see, and stuck his arm out towards Kakashi. "Water Prison Jutsu!" The surrounding water formed a sphere around the Leaf jonin, completely trapping him.

"Fuuuuuuck..."

Zabuza smirked. "That's right. This water is harder than steel. For you, there's no escape." Zabuza allowed the mist to dissipate, expecting to see a few surviving clones, and the corpses of his enemies; what he actually saw were three genin and their partners, slightly worse for the wear, but mostly unharmed. There wasn't a single clone in sight. Zabuza 'hn'ed, and created two more clones.

Kakashi shouted, "Run!"

Naruto's eyes hardened. "No! I'm not gonna leave you behind!"

If Kakashi were capable of moving, he would've smacked himself in the forehead. "I gave you an _order_, Naruto. Run away while you still can."

Naruto shook his head. "I guess you'll have to write me up later, Kakashi-sensei. Rena-chan, it's your time to shine!"

Renamon smirked. [My thoughts exactly.] "Renamon, Digivolve to... Kyuubimon!" She began to run forwards, and then rolled, a bluish aura surrounding her. "Dragon Wheel!" The aura parted, forming into a large, flaming dragon that launched itself at Zabuza. He swore, and disengaged from the water prison, bringing up both hands to form a ram seal, and teleporting to right beside the giant fox. He swung his blade downwards, attempting to behead Kyuubimon, but his blade was stopped by a kunai.

Kakashi lifted his head, water still dripping from his hair. "I don't think so. Your fight is with me, Zabuza."

Zabuza's eyes narrowed. Both teleported back onto the lake, each staring the other down. Zabuza began to form a long series of handsigns, copied exactly by Kakashi. His eyes widened in surprise. _Can he-_

"Read your mind? Yes, I can."

Zabuza grunted, and continued the sequence, trying to ignore his opponent's attempts to psych him out. At the exact same time, the two jonin shouted, "Water Dragon jutsu!" Two dragons made of water rose from the surface of the nearby lake, each attacking the other. Both eventually dissolved back into normal water, and the two nin once more began a sequence of handsigns. Zabuza's eyes widened. _Can he see the future?_ Zabuza faltered in his sequence, but Kakashi kept going, finishing the technique first.

"Water style: Giant Vortex!" The water formed a ring around Kakashi, which spiraled forwards to strike Zabuza, tossing him back to the shore.

Zabuza leaned against a tree, panting. "Can you... see the future?"

Kakashi appeared in front of him, eyes cold. "Yes. You know what I see? Your death."

Just as Kakashi was about to decapitate him, several needles flew from a nearby treetop, embedding themselves in the nuke-nin's neck. A masked hunter-nin jumped down, picking up Zabuza's body. "I thank you for your assistance. I have been after this man for quite some time. Your aid in eliminating him is appreciated."

Kakashi closed his eyes wearily. _Something's not right here..._ He shook his head as a wave of exhaustion washed over him. "You're... Welcome." The hunter-nin disappeared, along with Zabuza. Kakashi sighed in relief, and then collapsed. Naruto put him on top of Kyuubimon, and together they headed for Tazuna's house.

Renamon de-digivolved, and helped Naruto carry their sensei into the house.

Tazuna called out, "Tsunami! I'm home!" A young woman came to the door, smiling. Her smile faded a bit when she saw Kakashi. "Goodness! What happened?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. I think he's probably just tired."

Tsunami motioned towards the back of the house. "We have a spare room you can put him in, just back here. Last door on the right."

Naruto nodded. "Thanks." After they had deposited Kakashi on a sleeping mat, the two shared a look, and headed outside to sit on the docks.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

[The sunset... It sure is something, isn't it?]

Renamon nodded. [I'm glad... that I can share it with you.]

Naruto glanced over at his partner, and gasped. The last rays of sunlight shone through her fur, creating a golden halo around her head. [You really are an angel, aren't you?]

She blushed. [Whatever I am, I'm yours.] She leaned in towards him.

[And I'm yours, Rena-chan. Believe it.] They kissed, and then turned towards the waves, eventually falling asleep against each other.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Whew, there it is. As it turns out, editing a chapter is a lot easier than simply rewriting it.


	4. Cerberumon's Attack

Partners For Life

Chapter 4: Cerberumon's Attack

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Haku frowned, as he checked Zabuza for a pulse. _He should be waking up by now... Much longer and there'll be permanent brain damage from lack of blood flow._ His eyes widened, as he inspected one of the holes his needles had left behind. _That... Shouldn't be there._ The young ice-user sat back, his mind reeling. _I've just killed my master._

[Flashback]

_ Haku looked down at Kyuubimon, hands shaking. [Such power... Can we even hope to stand against it?] He attempted to calm himself. [Damn, the Copy-nin's about to kill him... Now, or never!] He threw the senbon, aiming for pressure points that would induce a coma similar to death. He prayed that the needles hit their targets-a millimeter either way could mean a very real death for Zabuza._

[Flashback end]

Haku gave his master's unmoving body one final glance, before drawing a kunai from his robes. _I have failed you, master... and for that, I deserve nothing less than death._ The kunai ripped through his chest, impaling his heart, and killing him almost immediately.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Kakashi opened one eye wearily. "Where am I?"

Sakura leaned over him, her face worried. "You're at Tazuna's house. What happened to you?"

Kakashi groaned. "As I wasn't born with the Sharingan, it takes a lot out of me to use it, especially for such a long time. Right now, I'm almost completely out of chakra."

Sakura nodded. "Do you want me to gather the team, now that you're awake?"

He nodded.

A few minutes later, everyone was gathered in Kakashi's room. Kakashi looked over at Naruto. "Alright, then. You owe me an explanation."

Naruto grimaced. "Rena-chan can probably explain it better than I can..."

Kakashi nodded. "So, explain."

Renamon took a deep breath. "We're not summons, as I'm sure you've already figured out. As a matter of fact, we're not even from this world. We are what our creators called Digimon, short for Digital Monsters. What I said about starting out as experiments was true."

The silver-haired jounin frowned. "What kind of experiments, exactly? Mutation?"

She shook her head. "The aim of our creators was to create A.I., or artificial intelligence. They designed computer programs that were self-evolving, and those programs eventually became Digimon."

He frowned. "So, what, you're some sort of machine?"

"No, not quite. I don't know exactly when it was discovered, but at some point we found out how to create living, breathing bodies with electromagnetic fields, pulling matter together to mimic the bodies we had in our world."

Kakashi took a moment to digest this. "So, you're saying that someone out there has the ability to create artificial life, just like that? I can't even imagine the kind of computer technology that would require."

She smiled ruefully. "Yes, but 'out there' isn't your world, either. The human world that we know is radically different from this one. More advanced, for one, but also much larger."

The cycloptic jounin asked the next obvious question. "How exactly did you end up here, then?"

Renamon sighed. "Short answer? I don't know _exactly_ how. The long answer is... Well, long."

"We have time." Kakashi leaned back, listening.

The golden vixen took a deep breath. "To begin with... Most digimon don't have partners. Most have never even seen the human world, much less walked in it. Those who do have partners are the strongest, as they're able to draw from a human's spiritual energy. There was a group of such digimon, whose partners called themselves the 'Digidestined'." She smiled. "I never met them, but stories of their heroics were told all over the digital world. In any case, the digidestined had been gone for a while when a group of four dark digimon showed up, calling themselves the Dark Masters."

Agumon growled, deep in her throat. "The bastards. They set up shop in the Dark Plains, and treated the rest of the digiworld like their own personal fucktoy."

Renamon nodded. "But eventually the digidestined returned, and one by one the Masters were defeated."

Gabumon closed his eyes. "But what came after was even worse. They called him... Apocalymon. After the Masters died, he was released... And he started tearing up the digital world like it was made of paper. Entire continents vanished, spiraling off into the void."

Kakashi nodded. "And I suppose this is the void?"

Renamon sighed. "Yes, apparently. The Three Angels kept us together for as long as they could, but eventually our people split apart, and, well... Here we are. I could feel it, right before they slipped away - Seraphimon spoke to me. He told me that he had made certain changes to us, to ensure the survival of the digimon. Part of those changes helped each of us to find a partner, and the other part..." Her face flushed red.

Their sensei raised an eyebrow. "And the other part?"

Gabumon rubbed the back of his head. "Well, you see, Digimon are naturally genderless."

Agumon snorted. "You mean we _were_ naturally genderless."

Kakashi blinked. "...Oh." For a moment, he was quiet, as he tried to digest this new information. "What kind of connection do you share with your... Partners?"

Naruto pulled out his D-Power. "I don't know how it does it, but this thing lets us share our chakra with our partners, to let them digivolve. That's when Rena-chan did earlier, when she changed into Kyuubimon."

Renamon nodded. "In return, we are sworn to protect and care for our partners. Our first loyalty is to them, and them alone."

"...Hmm. Alright, then. You realize, you're going to have to explain this to the Hokage when we get back to the village." He looked to each of his students in turn.

Sakura looked to the floor, downcast. "We just wanted to protect them..."

His eye softened. "I'm not saying that you should shout it out to the world. But this is the kind of thing that the people above you _need to know_. Understand?"

There were three 'Yes, Sensei's, and he nodded. "Good. For now, I want you to divide the night into three watches - I'm in no shape to fight, at the moment."

Sasuke frowned. "Didn't we already take care of the enemy forces? Hiring an A-rank bodyguard can't have been cheap."

Kakashi chuckled bitterly. "The Gato Corporation is one of the biggest companies in the _world_. Even if Zabuza is dead, which I'm not entirely sure of, Gato could easily afford to hire more missing-ninja. Don't count the job done until we're back home."

Gabumon raised an eyebrow. "Umm, Kakashi-sensei, what do you mean you're not entirely sure?"

"Well, for one thing, the hunter used senbon. Unless you hit a vital point, those usually aren't fatal. Also, did you notice what the hunter did with the body?"

Sakura's eyes widened. "She took the body with her, instead of burning it!"

Her sensei eye-smiled. "Very good, Sakura. A real hunter-nin would've decapitated Zabuza and kept his head as proof of death, and burned the body to ash."

Sasuke 'hn'ed. "I'll take first watch."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Gato paced agitatedly, fuming. "Dammit! Where is he! If that scumbag ran out on me..."

Just then, a servant walked in. "Pardon me, Gato-sama, but I've just received a report from our spies."

The short, hairy man raised an eyebrow. "Well? What is it?"

His servant bowed deeply, a sheen of nervous sweat on his temple. "They reported that they saw the bridge builder return to his house, along with a team of ninja, and what he took to be summons."

Gato 'hmm'ed. "Summons, you say? Did they give any description of what these summons looked like?"

The man bowed. "Yes, they did, Gato-sama." He handed the small man a thin stack of papers. "They drew an impression of them."

Gato looked at the three sheets, depicting Renamon, Agumon, and Gabumon. He grinned nastily. "Oh, these aren't summons at all." He chuckled. "Inform the staff that I do not wish to be disturbed for the next hour."

The man nodded quickly, glad to be getting away without being punished. He hastily left the room.

Pulling a key from his desk, Gato padded over to a life-sized portrait of himself, and slid it aside to reveal a locked door. Inputting the combinations, and turning his key in the lock, he opened the door to reveal a set of stairs. _It's fortunate indeed that I've saved something for a situation just like this one. It's too bad he will only fight if there are other digimon to kill, but hey, he's cheap._ Gato turned a corner, and came face-to-snout with a black armored dog. Apparently, the dog had just finished eating, for there were still shreds of meat hanging from his teeth.

It regarded him with a single yellow eye. "What is it that you want, human?"

Gato smirked. "There is a bridge builder, being guarded by a group of ninja." He raised his hand before Cerberumon could object. "Three of those ninja have partners. If you kill the bridge-builder, their data is yours."

The Hellish Watchdog nodded. "Very well, then."

Gato smirked. "Excellent." Reaching into his pocket, he pressed a button, and one wall of the room rose up to reveal a tunnel that led up into the sunlight. Before Gato could even say anything, Cerberumon was gone.

_ Well, that was easy... I thought I'd have to do a lot more convincing than that. Oh, well. The bridge-builder is as good as dead, now._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Kakashi looked at his students, leaning on crutches he'd borrowed from Tsunami. "Okay, today's lesson: How to climb trees."

Naruto frowned. "But Kakashi sensei, we already know how to climb trees!"

Kakashi eye-smiled. "Oh, really? Can you do it like this?" He slowly walked over to a tree, and then began to walk straight up the trunk, seemingly unaffected by gravity. All six of his students gaped. He smiled down at them. _Ahh, newbies... it's so fun to surprise 'em. Just wait until it's time to learn water-walking... _"You can do this by focusing your chakra into your feet. After you've gathered enough, put your foot on the trunk; if it slides off, you're not using enough, and if it crushes the bark, you're using too much."

Naruto screwed up his face, put his foot on a tree trunk... and blew a hole in it. Thankfully, it was a small hole, so the tree didn't fall over.

Kakashi sweat-dropped. "Not... Quite so much." He sighed. _I knew he had bad chakra control, but I never thought it was __**that**__ bad. _"Your objective is to get to the top of a tree without using your hands. Use kunai to mark your progress."

Naruto punched the air. "Alrighty, then! Let's do some training!"

About an hour later...

Naruto and Renamon sat on a branch together; with each constantly feeding the other information, it didn't take long for them to master the exercise, especially since Renamon was used to manipulating energy outside of her body. Sakura was the next to complete the exercise, though she couldn't master it; Every time she tried, her reserves would give out on the third or fourth lap. Sasuke was trying harder and harder, frustrated at being left behind.

Naruto called down to him, "Just relax! If you try too hard, you'll make it too hard to do. Just focus on your chakra, and nothing else."

Sasuke growled, but accepted the advice. There was no point in arguing - Naruto had already completed the exercise, so chances were that the way he did it, was the right way to do it. Calming himself, he focused only on his feet, excluding everything else around him. He could feel, from a nearby branch, Kakashi's eyes on him, but he ignored, focusing only on his chakra. He frowned as he heard a rumbling noise. _Wait a minute... it sounds like it's getting closer!_ Opening his eyes, he settled into a defensive position, kunai at the ready.

The others leapt down from the tree, save for Kakashi, and each prepared themselves as well. After a second or two, an armored head broke through the foliage.

The head was followed by an equally-armored black body, and two more heads. Cerberumon sniffed. "So. These are the ones that Gato wants dead? Pathetic - your data is hardly worth the effort. Still, a deal is a deal."

Kakashi swore. _Of all the times - it just __**had **__to be when I'm still out. I couldn't even throw a decent punch in this state._

Naruto and Sakura leapt down from the trees, automatically sliding into formation alongside Sasuke as all three genin drew their kunai.

Sasuke glanced at his blonde teammate. "Cannonball?"

Naruto nodded and made a trio of shadowclones.

Sasuke grabbed one and sent it flying, and the other two followed suit. As the clones flew, they grinned and held a ram seal. "Transform"

Cerberumon staggered as he was hit by three large metal cannonballs, one actually managing to crack its armor. He growled, a low, guttural sound. "And to think, I was actually going to do you a favor and kill you quickly." Almost thoughtlessly, he batted aside a Pepper Breath, and closed his eyes as a hailstorm of diamonds clattered uselessly against his outer shell. His eyes snapped open, and he grinned. "My turn. Hellfire!"

Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw the demon-dog launch a black-laced fireball at Agumon. Without even thinking, he leapt in front of her.

When the smoke cleared, the raven-haired genin was on the ground. The skin had been burned from his arms and a good portion of his chest, and he smoked slightly as he flopped onto his back.

Agumon caught Sasuke as he fell. "Why...? Why did you save me?"

Sasuke managed a faint 'hn'. "I-I just did. Now, go out there, and kick some ass."

She wiped a tear from her eye. "Can do." She turned back to Cerberumon, rage lighting her features. "You hurt my partner, and for that, you'll pay!"

The hell-hound snorted. "And what's a weakling like you gonna do about it?"

Agumon narrowed her eyes, resolute. "I may be smaller than you... I may even be weaker than you. But one thing I know, above all else." She grinned, as she felt a surge of power, and began to glow. "When the lives of those I hold dear are on the line, there's no way in _hell_ I'm giving up! Agumon, digivolve to... Greymon!"

Cerberumon stared up at the now, much larger digimon.

She glared down at it. "Nova Blast!" The fireball drove it back a few feet, but didn't seem to do much damage.

Cerberumon walked out of the smoke. "...Was that supposed to impress me? Whether you give up or not, today your life will _end_."

It started forwards, but was forced to roll to the side in order to avoid a kunai to one of the eyes on its left head. Looking around, Cerberumon saw that it was surrounded by several Naruto-clones, each with a full set of kunai. Most of it just glanced off of the hellhound's armor, but it couldn't risk getting one in the eye. Closing its eyes, the black hound shouted, "Inferno Gate!" Immediately, pools of darkness appeared on the ground, sucking up all of the clones. Cerberumon grinned. "Much better. Now, where was-" It yelped, as a diamond struck it in one of the eyes on his right head. He turned to attack the one responsible, only to get an exploding tag in the face. It growled. "I've had enough of this!"

Cerberumon began to lash out indiscriminately. "Hellfire!" The flames struck Greymon, knocking her over; subsequent blasts hit Renamon, Gabumon, and Sakura. Naruto had just barely dodged a fireball, when he saw Renamon get hit, and slam against a tree.

As Cerberumon began to chuckle darkly, and Greymon de-digivolved, Naruto's vision turned red. Through larger-than-normal canines, he shouted, "You _bastard_! Stop laughing!"

He crouched down on all fours, a flickering red aura covering his frame. His eyes were now a bloody crimson, with slit pupils, and his voice was guttural as he ground out, "For what you've done to my friends... I'M GONNA DESTROY YOU!" Quicker than even Kakashi's eye could follow, Naruto punched one of Cerberumon's 'head's, his fist going straight through the hellhound's armor, completely destroying the head, and causing the rest of it to pixellate. With a final swipe, Cerberumon's data flew apart, and reformed itself into an egg. Naruto closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they were blue once more, all traces of the Kyuubi's demonic aura now gone.

Up in a nearby tree, Kakashi held a silver device that had come seemingly out of nowhere, along with a tag, bearing a sun symbol. Slipping on the necklace, he mused, _I guess this makes me a Tamer, huh?_

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX _

Yes, I know, it's been too long. Yes, I know that a great many of you are frustrated by my slow update speed - And I'm grateful that so many of you are still reading the story. I make no promises as to when the next update will be, but I do have some free time coming up, so we'll see.


End file.
